Square Tray, 14th century
Unknown artist, Chinaexpand_more
Carved red lacquer (tihong)expand_more
Gift of Ruth and Bruce Daytonexpand_more 2001.68.1
Not on Viewexpand_more
This shallow tray or dish with its dense design featuring two pheasants flying amongst camellias represents a new approach to carved lacquer. The Yuan artisan has used foreshortening and overlapping along with fine incisions to convey texture in the bird's feathers, veins of the leaves and blossoms, and the centers of the flowers, thus creating a stronger sense of three dimensionality than lacquer artists of preceding periods.
The outside of the tray is carved in the tixi (marbled) technique with a classic "fragrant grass" scroll revealing layers of alternating red, black, and cream lacquer where carved through the red surface. The base is lacquered plain black.
Details
- Title
- Square Tray
- Role
- Artist
- Accession Number
- 2001.68.1
- Curator Approved
This record has been reviewed by our curatorial staff but may be incomplete. These records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.
Does something look wrong with this image? Let us know
Zoom in on the left to the detail you'd like to save. Click 'Save detail' and wait until the image updates. Right click the image to 'save image as' or copy link, or click the image to open in a new tab.