Several complex techniques were used to create this design of a dragon flying above rocks and waves. The dragon was first carved and then filled with gold and colored lacquers. The resulting decoration, which extended above the surface of the dish, was ground down until it was flush and then polished to an even finish.
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Artwork Details
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明萬曆 填漆戧金龍紋盤
Title:Dish with dragon
Period:Ming dynasty (1368–1644), Wanli period (1573–1620)
Date:dated 1595
Culture:China
Medium:Polychrome lacquer with filled-in and engraved gold decoration
Dimensions:H. 1 1/4 in. (3.2 cm); Diam. 6 1/4 in. (15.9 cm)
Classification:Lacquer
Credit Line:Gift of Florence and Herbert Irving, 2015
Accession Number:2015.500.1.53
[ Spink & Son Ltd. , London, until 1986; sold to Irving]; Florence and Herbert Irving , New York (1986–2015; 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.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Chinese Lacquer: Painted and Carved," 2007.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Chinese Lacquer: An Introduction," December 4, 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. "Red and Black: Chinese Lacquer, 13th–16th Century," September 7, 2011–June 10, 2012.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Spirited Creatures: Animal Representations in Chinese Silk and Lacquer," October 21, 2017–July 22, 2018.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Another World Lies Beyond: Chinese Art and the Divine," August 24, 2019–January 5, 2020.
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. 119, 373, cat. no. 50, fig. 50.
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