This carved lacquerware table 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 is from 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 ...

(1368–1644). It is unique in shape and decoration and is one of the most important objects from the period. It is one of the few surviving examples in the world of a major piece of furniture produced in the 'Orchard Workshop', the Imperial lacquer workshop set up in the early Ming period and situated to the north-west of 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 ...

' compound in Peking (now Beijing). 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 this table, with three drawers, whose top has a typical imperial Ming design with a central

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 ...

and phoenix, symbolizing the emperor and empress respectively; the pair also appear on the drawer-fronts. The table-top measures 119.5 cm by 84.5 cm and the table is high. It was produced between 1425–1436 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 table-top relief was originally a yellow that contrasted with the red of the upper layers, but has now faded to a dark colour. The legs and edges of the top are carved with the " Flowers of the Four Seasons". The insides of the drawers are in plain red lacquer, and the outsides and underside of the table in black lacquer.Clunas, 107 The table bears the mark of the reign of the

Xuande Emperor The Xuande Emperor (16 March 1399 31 January 1435), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Xuanzong of Ming, personal name Zhu Zhanji, was the fifth emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1425 to 1435. He was the son and successor of ...

(1426–1435) and was probably made to stand in an Imperial Palace. An Imperial provenance is also suggested by the five-clawed dragons carved on the surface, each of which has been mutilated by the removal of one claw on each foot, as was often done when pieces left imperial ownership. The five-clawed dragon was only allowed to be used by the emperor, with very severe penalties for abuse, but imperial pieces were sometimes given as gifts, or pilfered by the court eunuchs to be sold at a notorious market outside the northern gate of the

In the Ming period the

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, as here, 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.Watt and Ford, 104 MingLacquerTable2

The table was lent to 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 ...

's 2014 exhibition ''Ming, 50 years that changed China''.

Notes

References

* * Clunas, Craig and Harrison-Hall, Jessica, ''Ming: 50 years that changed China'', 2014, 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 {{Ming dynasty topics Asian objects in the Victoria and Albert Museum Chinese furniture Chinese lacquerware Individual pieces of furniture Ming dynasty art Tables (furniture)