Several features help date this remarkable dish to the fourteenth century. Two birds circle one another playfully in a composition suited to the circular shape. The lush hollyhock blossoms, shown from multiple perspectives, have petals of different sizes that overlap to suggest depth. Long, narrow leaves fill at least three layers of carving, adding to the richness of the surface. The unworked dark background seen here is more commonly found in earlier carved lacquers.
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Artwork Details
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元 張成款雕漆剔紅綬帶秋葵紋盤
Title:Dish with long-tailed birds and hibiscuses
Artist:Attributed to Zhang Cheng (active mid-14th century)
Period:Yuan dynasty (1271–1368)
Date:mid-14th century
Culture:China
Medium:Carved red lacquer
Dimensions:H. 1/8 in. (0.3 cm); Diam. 12 3/4 in. (32.4 cm)
Classification:Lacquer
Credit Line:Gift of Florence and Herbert Irving, in honor of James C. Y. Watt, 2011
Object Number:2011.120.1
[ Klaus F. Naumann , Tokyo, until 1987; sold to Irving]; Florence and Herbert Irving , New York (1987–2011; donated to MMA)
Kyoto National Museum. "Kachō no bi: kaiga to ishō," October 5, 1982–November 13, 1982.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "East Asian Lacquer from the Florence and Herbert Irving Collection," November 22, 1991–February 23, 1992.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Chinese Lacquer," July 18–November 14, 2005.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Asian Lacquer: Masterpieces from the Florence and Herbert Irving Collection," November 3, 2007–May 11, 2008.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Cinnabar: The Chinese Art of Carved Lacquer," August 6, 2009–February 21, 2010.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The World of Khubilai Khan: Chinese Art in the Yuan Dynasty," September 28, 2010–January 2, 2011.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Red and Black: Chinese Lacquer, 13th–16th Century," September 7, 2011–June 10, 2012.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Introduction to Chinese Lacquer," December 11, 2013–July 6, 2014.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Chinese Lacquer: Treasures from the Irving Collection, 12th–18th Century," August 15, 2015–June 19, 2016.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Cinnabar: The Chinese Art of Carved Lacquer, 14th to 19th Century," June 15, 2016–October 9, 2017.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masters and Masterpieces: Chinese Art from the Florence and Herbert Irving Collection," January 30, 2021–June 5, 2022.
Watt, James C. Y., and Barbara Brennan Ford. East Asian Lacquer: The Florence and Herbert Irving Collection. Exh. cat. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1991, pp. 68–69; 372, cat. no. 19.
Watt, James C. Y., and Denise Patry Leidy. Defining Yongle: Imperial Art in Early Fifteenth-Century China. Exh. cat. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005, p. 47, fig. 11.
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