HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Carved lacquer or Qidiao () is a distinctive Chinese form of decorated
lacquerware Lacquerware are objects decoratively covered with lacquer. Lacquerware includes small or large containers, tableware, a variety of small objects carried by people, and larger objects such as furniture and even coffins painted with lacquer. Before ...
. While lacquer has been used in China for at least 3,000 years, the technique of carving into very thick coatings of it appears to have been developed in the 12th century CE. It is extremely time-consuming to produce, and has always been a luxury product, essentially restricted to China, though imitated in Japanese lacquer in somewhat different styles. The producing process is called Diaoqi (, carving lacquer). Though most surviving examples are from the Ming and
Qing The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
dynasties, the main types of subject matter for the carvings were all begun under the
Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...
, and the development of both these and the technique of carving were essentially over by the early Ming. These types were the abstract ''guri'' or Sword-Pommel pattern, figures in a landscape, and birds and plants. To these some designs with religious symbols, animals, auspicious characters ''(right)'' and imperial dragons can be added. The objects made in the technique are a wide range of small types, but are mostly practical vessels or containers such as boxes, plates and trays. Some screens and pieces of
Chinese furniture The forms of Chinese furniture evolved along three distinct lineages which date back to 1000 BC: ''frame and panel'', ''yoke and rack'' (based on post-and-rail seen in architecture) and ''bamboo'' construction techniques. Chinese home furni ...
were made. Carved lacquer is only rarely combined with painting in lacquer and other lacquer techniques.


History

Later Chinese writers dated the introduction of carved lacquer to the
Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...
(618–906), and many modern writers have pointed to some late Tang pieces of armour found on the
Silk Road The Silk Road was a network of Asian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over , it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the ...
by
Aurel Stein Sir Marc Aurel Stein, (; 26 November 1862 – 26 October 1943) was a Hungarian-born British archaeologist, primarily known for his explorations and archaeological discoveries in Central Asia. He was also a professor at Indian universities. ...
and now in the
British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
. These are red and black lacquer on
camel A camel (from and () from Ancient Semitic: ''gāmāl'') is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provid ...
hide, but the lacquer is very thin, "less than one millimeter in thickness", and the effect very different, with simple abstract shapes on a plain field and almost no impression of
relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...
.


Song dynasty, and the main types of subject matter

The style of carving into thick lacquer used later is first seen in the
Southern Song The Song dynasty ( ) was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Ten Kingdoms, ending ...
(1127–1279), following the development of techniques for making very thick lacquer. There is some evidence from literary sources that it had existed in the late Tang. At first the style of decoration used is known as ''guri'' () from the Japanese word for the ring-pommel of a sword, where the same motifs were used in metal, and is often called the "Sword-Pommel pattern" in English. This style uses a family of repeated two-branched scrolling shapes cut with a rounded profile at the surface, but below that a "V" section through layers of lacquer in different colours (black, red and yellow, and later green), giving a "marbled" effect from the contrasted colours; this technique is called ''tìxī'' () in Chinese. This style continued to be used up to the
Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...
, especially on small boxes and jars with covers, though after the Song only red was often used, and the motifs were often carved with wider flat spaces at the bottom level to be exposed. Most Song carved lacquer to survive is in the ''guri'' and ''tixi'' style and technique, but the period also saw the development of a pictorial style, and the beginning of the two other main streams of
iconography Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct fro ...
that were to dominate the rest of the history of carved lacquer, though surviving examples from the Song are rare. Both relate to
Chinese art Chinese art is visual art that originated in or is practiced in China, Greater China or by Chinese artists. Art created by Chinese residing outside of China can also be considered a part of Chinese art when it is based on or draws on Chine ...
in other media, and use the existing vocabulary of Chinese ornament for borders. The first type of subject is scenes of people in a landscape, derived mainly from
Chinese painting Chinese painting () is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. Painting in the traditional style is known today in Chinese as , meaning "national painting" or "native painting", as opposed to Western styles of art which b ...
and woodcut book illustrations; such scenes were only later to be found in
Chinese ceramics Chinese ceramics are one of the most significant forms of Chinese art and ceramics globally. They range from construction materials such as bricks and tiles, to hand-built pottery vessels fired in bonfires or kilns, to the sophisticated Chinese ...
. The settings quickly became fairly standardized, with a few figures close to one or more buildings, in a garden setting, perhaps near water or a road (the English
chinoiserie (, ; loanword from French '' chinoiserie'', from '' chinois'', "Chinese"; ) is the European interpretation and imitation of Chinese and other Sinosphere artistic traditions, especially in the decorative arts, garden design, architecture, lite ...
"
Willow pattern The Willow pattern is a distinctive and elaborate chinoiserie pattern used on ceramic tableware. It became popular at the end of the 18th century in England when, in its standard form, it was developed by English ceramic artists combining and ...
" is just such a scene). A convention developed by which the areas of sky, water and land (floor or ground) left largely blank in paintings are filled in with discreet patterns derived from textiles, known as "
brocade Brocade () is a class of richly decorative shuttle (weaving), shuttle-woven fabrics, often made in coloured silks and sometimes with gold and silver threads. The name, related to the same root as the word "broccoli", comes from Italian langua ...
-grounds" and also "
diaper A diaper (, North American English) or a nappy (British English, Australian English, Hiberno-English) is a type of underwear that allows the wearer to urinate or defecate without using a toilet, by absorbing or containing waste products to p ...
backgrounds"; this convention has continued to modern times. Standard groups of patterns for each type are followed in work from the imperial workshops, but may be mixed up in work from the commercial workshops. The precise form of patterns used can be a factor in dating pieces, but in general "The background diaper of sky consisted of looping clouds, diapers representing water were cut in rhomboid curves for waves, and the land and paving had diapers with geometricized flowers". The other main type of subject was birds against a foliage background that filled the whole carved area, or just flowers and foliage treated in the same way. Dragons and phoenixes were also treated in this style, and became very prominent in Ming imperial works (see below). A design of this type known as the "two birds" was especially successful aesthetically and often used; in later examples the birds are often the
fenghuang ''Fenghuang'' () are mythological birds featuring in traditions throughout the Sinosphere. ''Fenghuang'' are understood to reign over all other birds: males and females were originally termed ''feng'' and ''huang'' respectively, but a gender ...
or Chinese phoenix. The style continued to develop until reaching its finest period in the early Ming dynasty, and has continued to be produced. Plant decoration of this sort was later generally used to fill in borders and other spaces around other types of subject, such as the edges and legs of furniture. This style relates to a broad tradition of Chinese ornament reaching back into Chinese antiquity in stone reliefs, metalwork and other media, including ceramics. Lacquer was among the luxury products often given by the emperor as diplomatic or political gifts, or to the subsidiary courts of princes of the imperial house. Japanese collections, often accumulated in temples, have a high proportion of the surviving early Chinese carved lacquer pieces. The
Engaku-ji , or Engaku-ji (円覚寺), is one of the most important Zen Buddhist temple complexes in Japan and is ranked second among Kamakura's Five Mountains. It is situated in the city of Kamakura, in Kanagawa Prefecture to the south of Tokyo. Founded ...
temple in
Kamakura , officially , is a city of Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. It is located in the Kanto region on the island of Honshu. The city has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 people per km2 over the tota ...
has an especially important group of pieces, some of which are credibly reputed to have been brought to Japan by its founder, a refugee monk escaping the fall of the Song dynasty to the Mongols in 1279.


''Guri'' pattern and ''tixi'' technique

File:Cup (Bei) with Sword-Pommel Pattern LACMA M.90.70.2.jpg, ''Bei'' (Cup) with ''guri'' Sword-Pommel Pattern, in ''tixi'', with silver interior. Song or Yuan. Straight sides to grooves, and several thin layers of red. File:Dish (Pan) with Sword-Pommel Pattern LACMA M.82.135.jpg, ''Pan'' (Dish) with Sword-Pommel Pattern, Yuan. Brown with red layers File:Cup Stand (Tuozhan) in the Form of a Lotus Blossom with Sword-Pommel Pattern LACMA M.79.89.4.jpg, ''Tuozhan'' (Cup Stand) in the Form of a Lotus Blossom with Sword-Pommel Pattern, early Ming. Very rounded carving, and a few black layers. File:Foliated Dish (Pan) with Sword-Pommel Pattern LACMA M.87.203 (cropped).jpg, Foliated ''Pan'' (Dish) with Sword-Pommel Pattern, detail of the tray and layers of different colours can be seen above.


Yuan

In the Yuan dynasty the development of Song styles continued, especially from about 1320, after something of a hiatus (as also seen in other arts). Pieces in the Sword-Pommel pattern have more rounded tops to the ridges, and more narrow bottoms. The artistic quality of carving was perhaps never higher, in all the main streams of iconography: Sword-Pommel pattern, birds, flowers and foliage, and figures in landscapes. In the crowded, "exuberant and complex" designs with birds and plants, the forms overlap and curl in a more sculptural fashion, allowed by slightly thicker lacquer. By the late Yuan the reputation of individual masters has come down to us, although few pieces are signed and even these cannot be very confidently assigned to an artist, as the signatures may not be genuine. Yang Mao and Zhang Cheng were the most famous masters, both from
Jiaxing Jiaxing (), alternately romanized as Kashing, is a prefecture-level city in northern Zhejiang province, China. Lying on the Grand Canal of China, Jiaxing borders Hangzhou to the southwest, Huzhou to the west, Shanghai to the northeast, and the p ...
in the southern province of
Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...
.


Bird and plant designs

File:Circular Box with Camellias.jpg, Box with Camellias, Song File:Tray (Pan) in the Form of a Plum Blossom with Birds and Flowers LACMA M.86.330 (1 of 2).jpg, Tray with two birds against a background of plum blossom and flowers, 19 cm wide, late Song, 13th century ( oblique view). No overlapping of forms, and relatively wide strips of background visible. File:Seal Paste Box (Yinnihe) with Litchi Stems LACMA M.87.205a-b (2 of 2).jpg, ''Yinni He'' (Seal Paste Box) with Litchi Stems, 7.5 cm wide, Middle Ming, 1450–1500. Brocade-ground patterns are used both for the background and on the fruit. File:Box (He) with Pair of Pheasants in Peonies LACMA M.80.96.1a-b.jpg, ''He'' (Box) with Pair of Pheasants in Peonies, late Ming, 19 cm wide. Thin top layers of red over black give effective contrasts.


Ming

Chinese diplomatic gifts to the Japanese government in the early Ming are especially well-documented on the Japanese side, at a time when the Ashikaga shogunate was enjoying a period of improved relations with China. In 1403 a consignment of luxury goods, also including Chinese silks and lacquered
Chinese furniture The forms of Chinese furniture evolved along three distinct lineages which date back to 1000 BC: ''frame and panel'', ''yoke and rack'' (based on post-and-rail seen in architecture) and ''bamboo'' construction techniques. Chinese home furni ...
, had 58 pieces of carved red lacquerware in a range of shapes. Lists with descriptions and measurements that allow some surviving pieces to be identified also survive from 1406, 1407, 1433 and 1434. These confirm that carved red lacquer was already "the favored type of lacquer for court use" by this point. Most early production of lacquer had been in the more suitable hot and moist climate of the south, but from the early Ming onwards the finest work was often from official workshops in Beijing, and the best early Ming work is "technically ... as near perfection as has ever been possible". The "Orchard Factory" was founded around 1416 in Lingjing hutong in
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
, near the
Forbidden City The Forbidden City () is the Chinese Empire, imperial Chinese palace, palace complex in the center of the Imperial City, Beijing, Imperial City in Beijing, China. It was the residence of 24 Ming dynasty, Ming and Qing dynasty, Qing dynasty L ...
. It used imported workers from the south, the masters from
Jiaxing Jiaxing (), alternately romanized as Kashing, is a prefecture-level city in northern Zhejiang province, China. Lying on the Grand Canal of China, Jiaxing borders Hangzhou to the southwest, Huzhou to the west, Shanghai to the northeast, and the p ...
in
Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...
province, and other workers from
Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...
and
Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...
. As part of the internal tax or tribute system, about 5,000 workers from the south were required to work in the imperial workshops for terms of four years. The raw lacquer was also imported from the south, as the Chinese lacquer tree will not grow as far north as Beijing. Beijing was an unpromising location for lacquer production, being very cold in winter, and with dry and dusty air; the opposite of what was best. The Orchard Factory closed in 1436, after only some 20 years of operations. The production of imperial wares seems to have lapsed between 1436 and 1522, after another Mongol invasion, from which lacquer production took longer to recover than
Jingdezhen porcelain Jingdezhen porcelain () is Chinese ceramics, Chinese porcelain produced in or near Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province in southern China. Jingdezhen may have produced pottery as early as the sixth century CE, though it is named after the reign name o ...
. In the Ming period the
dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...
became a key imperial symbol, very often appearing on lacquer from the imperial workshops for the use of the court, or made to be given by the emperor. Initially the dragon's head was seen in the traditional profile but in the middle of the 15th century the "frontal" dragon, seen looking out full-face at the viewer, was introduced and soon became the norm in lacquer as in other media. By at least the Ming dynasty carved lacquer was being used all over the visible surfaces of pieces of furniture, a dauntingly expensive proposition. One of the best known pieces is a desk-sized table with three drawers in the
Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...
in London, whose top has a typical imperial Ming design with a central dragon and phoenix, symbolizing the emperor and empress respectively. The table-top measures 119.5 cm by 84.5 cm and it was produced between 1425 and 1436 in the "Orchard Factory", and is the only piece of its size to survive from their production, the best period of Ming workmanship. As with many other pieces, the ground of the relief was originally a yellow that contrasted with the red of the upper layers, but has now faded to a dark colour. Black grounds under red carved layers were also common from this period, but in some cases what now appears black may originally have been green. A less common type, often of very high quality, has black upper layers on a red ground. From about 1400, the "brocade-ground" patterns already used for floors and sky in scenes of figures in a landscape were also used in depicting plant designs, both on the backgrounds and on the leaves or fruits of the plants themselves, "a curious development". More logically, they were also used for the background of non-representational designs such as characters of Chinese script. Though sometimes used earlier, polychrome carved lacquer in a variety of the ''tixi'' technique was only prominent during the period between the Jiajing Emperor and Wanli Emperor (1521–1620). This involved carving different parts of the image down to expose a layer in a different colour, so building up a coloured image.


Landscape and figure designs

File:Carved lacquer wooden box, Ming Dynasty.jpg, The palace of
Chang'e Chang'e ( ; ), originally known as Heng'e (), is the goddess of the Moon and wife of Hou Yi, the great archer. Renowned for her beauty, Chang'e is also known for her ascending to the Moon with her pet Yu Tu, the Moon Rabbit and living in the Mo ...
, goddess of the moon, in black over red, 1490s File:Dish (Pan) in the Form of a Flower with Children Playing in a Garden LACMA M.85.153.2.jpg, ''Pan'' (Dish) with Children Playing in a Garden, a popular subject. Ming, Yongle File:Qing Dynasty lacquered fruit box.JPG, Qing "fruit box" with typical genre scene File:Small Box (He) with Elderly Woman and Young Boy Tending Bamboo in a Garden LACMA M.90.70.4a-b.jpg, ''He'' (Small Box) with Elderly Woman and Young Boy Tending Bamboo in a Garden. Qing, Qianlong. Note the three kinds of brocade-ground.


Qing

Another imperial factory was founded beside the Forbidden City in 1680 under the
Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
by the
Kangxi Emperor The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 165420 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, personal name Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper. His reign of 61 ...
and was still producing under the
Qianlong Emperor The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, personal name Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of China, emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China pr ...
(1736–95), "one of the most prodigal spenders in Chinese history" and a great lover of carved lacquer. Referring to the traditional complaints, stretching back to the
Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...
, about the cost to the imperial budget of "ordinary" lacquerware, he had a carved Ming piece in the imperial collection engraved with an inscription beginning "Lacquer is cause for ten officials to complain; what if it is also carved?". By the Qing period the repertoire of subjects for carved lacquer was essentially complete, but one addition in the Qianlong reign was a few pieces showing foreigners, mostly Central Asians bearing tribute though landscapes. Combination techniques of other techniques sometimes included carving, but more often slightly raised areas built up by applying fillers to the base surface before the lacquer was applied. After the death of the Qianlong Emperor both the quality and quantity of imperial production sharply declined, and has never reached the previous standard again.


Manufacturing process

The
lacquer Lacquer is a type of hard and usually shiny coating or finish applied to materials such as wood or metal. It is most often made from resin extracted from trees and waxes and has been in use since antiquity. Asian lacquerware, which may be c ...
, sap from the ''
Toxicodendron vernicifluum ''Toxicodendron vernicifluum'' (formerly ''Rhus verniciflua''), also known by the common name Chinese lacquer tree, is an Asian tree species of genus '' Toxicodendron'' native to China and the Indian subcontinent, and cultivated in regions o ...
'' lacquer tree that is native to China, is mixed with colourings, with the usual colours being red from
cinnabar Cinnabar (; ), or cinnabarite (), also known as ''mercurblende'' is the bright scarlet to brick-red form of Mercury sulfide, mercury(II) sulfide (HgS). It is the most common source ore for refining mercury (element), elemental mercury and is t ...
, by far the most common, black from
carbon Carbon () is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalence, tetravalent—meaning that its atoms are able to form up to four covalent bonds due to its valence shell exhibiting 4 ...
(probably Chinese ink and
soot Soot ( ) is a mass of impure carbon particles resulting from the incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons. Soot is considered a hazardous substance with carcinogenic properties. Most broadly, the term includes all the particulate matter produced b ...
), and a yellow or buff from
orpiment Orpiment, also known as ″yellow arsenic blende″ is a deep-colored, orange-yellow arsenic sulfide mineral with formula . It is found in volcanic fumaroles, low-temperature hydrothermal veins, and hot springs and may be formed through sublimatio ...
, which is liable to fade to a dark colour and is often now hardly apparent. There appears to have been a change in the early Ming from using red from natural mineral cinnabar to synthetic
vermilion Vermilion (sometimes vermillion) is a color family and pigment most often used between antiquity and the 19th century from the powdered mineral cinnabar (a form of mercury sulfide). It is synonymous with red orange, which often takes a moder ...
. Some time after this, the colouring of the red changed from the previous brownish-red shade to a "bright scarlet", for reasons that remain unclear. The chemistry of other common pigments known to the Chinese at this period appears to have made them unsuitable for use in lacquer. The base is usually of wood, though other materials may be used. Often the base of flatter pieces is made of two pieces of wood glued one on top of the other, with their grains running at right angles to each other. This helps the finished piece withstand stresses from different directions. Nonetheless, early pieces often show some warping and cracking. The wood was often covered with a glued-on coarse cloth made from
ramie Ramie (pronounced: , ; from Malay ), ''Boehmeria nivea'', is a flowering plant in the nettle family Urticaceae, native to eastern Asia. It is an herbaceous perennial growing to tall;
or
hemp Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a plant in the botanical class of ''Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial and consumable use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest ...
before the lacquer was applied. The base is coated with a succession of coats or layers of lacquer, each of which must be allowed to dry and harden slowly in a warm temperature of with high humidity (75% to 85%) before the next is applied. The drying time for each coat has been said to take weeks, "several days", 48 hours, or a day. It has been noted that "there is a great diversity in the literature .... about the numbers of layers involved. Estimates ...vary between a few and over 300". It is often stated that the number of coats in the best quality pieces reaches into the low hundreds, though it has also been said that microscopic examination of pieces does not support such high numbers, The lacquer is then carved with knives and other metal tools. Usually the general large areas of the composition were carved down to the right level first, then the main forms followed by the details, and lastly the patterns in the backgrounds. Finally any polishing needed is done; the best pieces had also been polished after each coat was hard. Modern works often use a number of shortcuts, including starting with carving most of the design in relief on the base wood, so greatly reducing the depth of actual lacquer required (this has been also been done in the Japanese '' kamakura-bori'' technique since around the 15th century ). Additives are also added in large amounts to the lacquer, or cast resin or other materials used instead. Nowadays there are less than 20 ''diaoqi'' masters who can still perform the craft. Because of its endangered status, it has been listed as a Chinese intangible cultural heritage.


Uses

Lacquerware has been described as "not unlike modern plastic in that it is light, durable and clean". Other types of lacquerware were widely used as tablewares, but the pictorial style of carved lacquer is less suitable for this, with intricate sunk corners that would be hard to clean of wet food remains. Partly for this reason, wide flattish shapes that are called dishes in other media, such as ceramics, tend to be rather more flat and to be called "trays" when in lacquer. Nonetheless, there is evidence that carved lacquer was used for serving food. Ming paintings of court scenes show food for "imperial picnics" being carried by court eunuchs in round lidded boxes in carved lacquer, a common shape that can reach nearly 40 cm across. The interior of these is almost always plain lacquer, greatly reducing the problem of keeping them clean, and the food itself may have been wrapped or in ceramic containers. A Yongle reign dish or tray 35 cm wide, probably made at the Orchard Factory and now in the
British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
, has a rare inscription indicating the use of the piece, as it declares it the property of the "Imperial Household Department of Sweetmeats and Delicacies". Lacquer was more often used for cup-stands (or bowl-stands), a sort of saucer with an integral raised hollow tube at the centre to hold the cup, than actual cups, but sometimes the exterior of these is carved lacquer, especially in the ''guri'' style, while the interior lacquer is smooth. As in other materials, there is a considerable overlap between the pieces used for serving and drinking tea, wine, and other drinks. Items for the scholar's desk, including brush pens with their matching covers, were often made in carved lacquer, as were those for the male and female toilet. The "Studio of the Three Rarities", the Qianlong Emperor's study in his main Beijing apartments, had an elaborate writing set in carved lacquer and other materials, including some of the visual tricks he enjoyed, such as a lacquer and ivory "book" that was actually a box containing his rhyming dictionary. Many smaller round boxes are described in the literature as "
incense Incense is an aromatic biotic material that releases fragrant smoke when burnt. The term is used for either the material or the aroma. Incense is used for aesthetic reasons, religious worship, aromatherapy, meditation, and ceremonial reasons. It ...
boxes", and a type of late Ming rectangular box with rounded corners was apparently mainly or initially used for the ceremonial presentation of documents or gifts. Craig Clunas suggests that in looking at pictorial scenes, we should be alert to possible connections in what may seem general genre scenes to specific major life events, as such pieces were used and reused among the elite to carry and themselves to be gifts on such occasions as a marriage, birth of a child, birthday, passing the imperial examinations, moving house, promotion and retirement. Specific episodes from the history of famous literati or literature may be intended; in paintings such subjects are likely to be made clear by inscriptions, but not on lacquer. In addition to presentation pieces, boxes in all types of lacquer were used in elite society as containers to send gifts of food, where the recipient was intended, after admiring the container, to send it back containing another gift.Kerr, 158 File:Brush (Bi) with Carp and Dragon LACMA M.80.152.1.jpg, ''Bi'' ( Writing brush) and cap with Carp and Dragon, Middle Ming File:WLA brooklynmuseum Four Tiered Box Ming Carved Lacquer.jpg, Box with four tiers, 15th century File:Official's Scepter (Ruyi) with Deer, Cranes, and a Bat LACMA M.83.89.jpg, '' Ruyi'' (sceptre of office) with Deer, Cranes, and a Bat (and a
swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍, ) is a symbol used in various Eurasian religions and cultures, as well as a few Indigenous peoples of Africa, African and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American cultures. In the Western world, it is widely rec ...
background pattern), Qing File:Carved table at shanghai museum.jpg, Table and chair set, Qing


Notes


References

*Burmester, A., "Technical Studies of Chinese Lacquer", in N. S. Brommelle, Perry Smith (eds), ''Urushi: Proceedings of the Urushi Study Group, June 10–27, 1985, Tokyo'', 1988, Getty Publications, , 9780892360963
fully online
*"Cinnabar"
''Cinnabar: The Chinese Art of Carved Lacquer''
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2009 (exhibition) * Clunas, Craig, ''Pictures and Visuality in Early Modern China'', 1997, Reaktion Books, , 9781861890085
google books
* Clunas, Craig and Harrison-Hall, Jessica, ''Ming: 50 years that changed China'', 2014, British Museum Press, * Garner, Harry (1963), "Technical Studies of Oriental Lacquer", ''Studies in Conservation'', vol. 8, no. 3, 1963, pp. 84–98
JSTOR
* Garner, Harry (1966), "Diaper Backgrounds on Chinese Carved Lacquer", ''Ars Orientalis'', vol. 6, 1966, pp. 165–189
JSTOR
*"Grove"
Oxford Art Online Oxford Art Online is an Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press ...
, "China, X, Lacquer" (by Rosemary Scott and others)
Subscription required
* Kerr, Rose, ed., ''Chinese Art and Design: the T.T. Tsui Gallery of Chinese Art'', 1991,
Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...
, *Kuwayama, George, "Chinese ''Guri'' Lacquers" in N. S. Brommelle, Perry Smith (eds), ''Urushi: Proceedings of the Urushi Study Group, June 10–27, 1985, Tokyo'', 1988, Getty Publications, , 9780892360963
fully online
*Osborne, Harold (ed), ''The Oxford Companion to the Decorative Arts'', 1975, OUP, *Rawski, Evelyn S., Rawson, Jessica, ''China: The Three Emperors 1662–1795'', 2005,
Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...
, * Rawson, Jessica (ed). ''The British Museum Book of Chinese Art'', 2007 (2nd edn), British Museum Press, *Watt, James C. Y., Ford, Barbara Brennan, ''East Asian Lacquer: The Florence and Herbert Irving Collection'', 1991, Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), , 9780870996221
fully online
*Webb, Marianne, ''Lacquer: Technology and Conservation : a Comprehensive Guide to the Technology and Conservation of Asian and European Lacquer'', 2000, Butterworth-Heinemann, {{ISBN, 0750644125, 9780750644129


Further reading

(For fuller bibliographies see Grove or Watt and Ford) * Clifford, Derek, ''Chinese Carved Lacquer'', 1993 * Garner, Harry, ''Chinese Lacquer'', 1979, Faber and Faber *Krahl, Regina, Morgan, Brian, ''From Innovation to Conformity: Chinese Lacquer From the 13th to 16th Centuries'', 1989, Bluitt, London


External links


''The Luxury of Chinese Lacquer''
Littleton & Hennessy Asian Art, 48 page PDF
lacquerware Lacquerware are objects decoratively covered with lacquer. Lacquerware includes small or large containers, tableware, a variety of small objects carried by people, and larger objects such as furniture and even coffins painted with lacquer. Before ...
Chinese lacquerware