Tray with Pair of Dragons
Not on view
Historical records indicate that sets of thirty trays with matching basins were sent to the Qing court in Beijing from the Ryūkyū Islands at least three times during the eighteenth century. The two dragons chasing a pearl in the center of this tray have five claws on each foot, which indicates that they are imperial symbols. Large trays such as this remain in imperial collections in China and Taiwan, and it seems likely that they once belonged to the eighteenth-century sets. The dragons and other motifs are rendered with thin pieces of mother-of-pearl chosen for their bright colors. The disjunction between the heads of the dragons and the rest of their bodies is characteristic of Okinawan lacquer.
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