Foliated dish with four birds and flowers
This dish is an excellent example of a small group of carved black lacquers that feature a four-bird motif. In this example, four birds fly amid a dense array of blossoming peonies. This design evolved from a “two-bird” motif that first appeared during the late thirteenth century. Demanding extraordinary carving skills, these vessels create a nearly three-dimensional visual across a basically flat surface. The even more complex design featuring four or five birds, as here, began to appear on lacquers of the fifteenth century.
Artwork Details
- 明 雕漆剔黑四鳥穿花紋盤
- Title: Foliated dish with four birds and flowers
- Period: Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
- Date: 15th century
- Culture: China
- Medium: Carved black lacquer
- Dimensions: Diam. 15 in. (38.1 cm)
- Classification: Lacquer
- Credit Line: Gift of Florence and Herbert Irving, 2020
- Object Number: 2020.323.2
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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16th century
Accession Number: 2001.584a–c
Unidentified artist
late 16th century
15th–16th century
late 15th–early 16th century
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