Chinesische Lackkunst, Eine deutche Privatsammlung: Museum fur Lackkunst
Publications
Chinese Works of Art (2008) A & J Speelman 2008 .pg 51
This rectangular, flat sided box is carved in red lacquer against a floral diaper ground and is representative in both style and subject matter of a specific group of middle Ming cinnabar wares.
The top is carved with a scene depicting an important dignitary holding a hu (a tablet carried by court officials); he stands before a screen on a terrace, amongst a procession of male and female attendants. A pavilion with raised bamboo blinds and an elaborate roof onto the terrace; this is furnished with tables – on which are placed censers and porcelain vases containing flowers.
The charm of this scene is in the details of the outdoor setting that depict the trappings and lifestyle of a scholar official. This is illustrated, in the rockwork garden with its abundance of plants including bamboo and peony – a scene replicated, in miniature, in a low square jardinière containing rocks and bonsai trees.
The sides of the cinnabar box are decorated with flowers of the four seasons, amongst branches inhabited by birds – both in flight and at rest – the details carved with extraordinary finesse. The overall style of carving is particularly well proportioned and spaced – the background filled in with intricate diaper ground that gives this box its visual richness. The interior and the flat base are painted in plain brown lacquer.
CARVED LACQUER
Although lacquer is used in many Asian cultures, the art of carving lacquer is unique to China. Lacquer is the resin (or sap) of a family of trees (rhus verniciflua) found throughout southern China.
It is an amazing material that hardens when exposed to oxygen and becomes a natural plastic that is resistant to water and can withstand heat and certain acids.
Known in China during the late Neolithic period (ca. 5000–ca. 2000 B.C.), lacquer was an important artistic medium from the sixth century B.C. to the second century A.D. and was often colored with minerals such as carbon (black), orpiment (yellow), and cinnabar (red) and used to paint the surfaces of sculptures and vessels.
There is little evidence for the use of lacquer in China from the second to the eighth century: eighth- to tenth-century examples are often beautifully constructed but with simple shapes and little or no decoration. In the twelfth century, however, a new class of luxury lacquer objects—carved lacquer—appeared. Carved lacquer, which is predominantly red, is often known as "cinnabar" lacquer, a reference to the use of this powdered mercury sulphide as the primary colorant.
Like all lacquer objects, carved pieces have a base that is usually made of turned wood: it is the lacquer that is worked and not the underlying material. In the carved-lacquer technique, multiple layers (often thirty or thirty-five, but at times up to two hundred) are applied onto a substructure in the shape of a box or dish, exposed to air and dried, and carved to create lush geometric motifs, engaging scenes of figures enjoying nature, and lively birds flitting among flowers.