The two gentlemen on horseback and their attendants are presumably traveling to join the four figures drinking beneath the pine tree at top. The crane standing near the attendants serving wine and the deer resting at right are symbols of immortality. They add an otherworldly element to the scene, which represents either a paradisiacal realm or the retirement villa of a senior official equipped with the trappings of such a magical environment.
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Artwork Details
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元 黑漆嵌螺鈿人物故事圖九方盤
Title:Tray with figures in a landscape
Period:Yuan dynasty (1271–1368)
Date:14th century
Culture:China
Medium:Black lacquer with inlaid mother-of-pearl
Dimensions:H. 2 1/8 in. (5.4 cm); Diam. 19 1/4 in. (48.9 cm); Diam. of foot 17 in. (43.2 cm)
Classification:Lacquer
Credit Line:Gift of Florence and Herbert Irving, 2015
Accession Number:2015.500.1.18
[ Klaus F. Naumann , Tokyo, until 1990; sold to Irving]; Florence and Herbert Irving , New York (1990–2015; donated to MMA)
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.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Mother-of-Pearl: A Tradition in Asian Lacquer," December 2, 2006–April 1, 2007.
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. "The Yuan Revolution: Art and Dynastic Change," August 21, 2010–January 9, 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. "Chinese Lacquer: Treasures from the Irving Collection, 12th–18th Century," August 15, 2015–June 19, 2016.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Show and Tell: Stories in Chinese Painting," October 29, 2016–August 6, 2017.
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. 124–25, cat. no. 54.
Leidy, Denise Patry. Mother-of Pearl: A Tradition in Asian Lacquer. Exh. cat. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2006, pp. 27–28, 53, cat. no. 3, figs. 22, 22a–b.
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