This carved lacquerware table in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London is from the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). It is unique in shape and decoration and is one of the most important objects from the period. It is one of the few surviving examples in the world of a major piece of furniture produced in the 'Orchard Workshop', the Imperial lacquer workshop set up in the early Ming period and situated to the north-west of the 'Forbidden City' compound in Peking (now Beijing).[1]
Chinese lacquerware table, 1425-1436 V&A Museum no. FE.6:1 to 4-1973
By at least the Ming dynasty carved lacquer was being used all over the visible surfaces of pieces of furniture, a dauntingly expensive proposition. One of the best known pieces is this table, with three drawers, whose top has a typical imperial Ming design with a central dragon and phoenix, symbolizing the emperor and empress respectively; the pair also appear on the drawer-fronts. The table-top measures 119.5 cm by 84.5 cm and the table is 79.2 cm high. It was produced between 1425–1436 in the "Orchard Factory", and is the only piece of its size to survive from their production, the best period of Ming workmanship. As with many other pieces, the ground of the table-top relief was originally a yellow that contrasted with the red of the upper layers, but has now faded to a dark colour.[2]
The legs and edges of the top are carved with the "Flowers of the Four Seasons". The insides of the drawers are in plain red lacquer, and the outsides and underside of the table in black lacquer.[3] The table bears the mark of the reign of the Xuande Emperor (1426–1435) and was probably made to stand in an Imperial Palace. An Imperial provenance is also suggested by the five-clawed dragons carved on the surface,[4] each of which has been mutilated by the removal of one claw on each foot, as was often done when pieces left imperial ownership. The five-clawed dragon was only allowed to be used by the emperor, with very severe penalties for abuse, but imperial pieces were sometimes given as gifts, or pilfered by the court eunuchs to be sold at a notorious market outside the northern gate of the Forbidden City.
The table top
In the Ming period the dragon became a key imperial symbol, very often appearing on lacquer from the imperial workshops for the use of the court, or made to be given by the emperor.[5] Initially the dragon's head was seen in the traditional profile, as here, but in the middle of the 15th century the "frontal" dragon, seen looking out full-face at the viewer, was introduced and soon became the norm in lacquer as in other media.[6]
Detail of a drawer
The table was lent to the British Museum's 2014 exhibition Ming, 50 years that changed China.[7]
Jackson, Anna, ed. (2001). V&A: A Hundred Highlights. V&A Publications.
Clunas, Craig and Harrison-Hall, Jessica, Ming: 50 years that changed China, 2014, British Museum Press, ISBN9780714124841
Watt, James C. Y., Ford, Barbara Brennan, East Asian Lacquer: The Florence and Herbert Irving Collection, 1991, Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), ISBN0870996223, 9780870996221
January 01, 1970
chinese, lacquerware, table, this, carved, lacquerware, table, victoria, albert, museum, london, from, ming, dynasty, 1368, 1644, unique, shape, decoration, most, important, objects, from, period, surviving, examples, world, major, piece, furniture, produced, . This carved lacquerware table in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London is from the Ming dynasty 1368 1644 It is unique in shape and decoration and is one of the most important objects from the period It is one of the few surviving examples in the world of a major piece of furniture produced in the Orchard Workshop the Imperial lacquer workshop set up in the early Ming period and situated to the north west of the Forbidden City compound in Peking now Beijing 1 Chinese lacquerware table 1425 1436 V amp A Museum no FE 6 1 to 4 1973 By at least the Ming dynasty carved lacquer was being used all over the visible surfaces of pieces of furniture a dauntingly expensive proposition One of the best known pieces is this table with three drawers whose top has a typical imperial Ming design with a central dragon and phoenix symbolizing the emperor and empress respectively the pair also appear on the drawer fronts The table top measures 119 5 cm by 84 5 cm and the table is 79 2 cm high It was produced between 1425 1436 in the Orchard Factory and is the only piece of its size to survive from their production the best period of Ming workmanship As with many other pieces the ground of the table top relief was originally a yellow that contrasted with the red of the upper layers but has now faded to a dark colour 2 The legs and edges of the top are carved with the Flowers of the Four Seasons The insides of the drawers are in plain red lacquer and the outsides and underside of the table in black lacquer 3 The table bears the mark of the reign of the Xuande Emperor 1426 1435 and was probably made to stand in an Imperial Palace An Imperial provenance is also suggested by the five clawed dragons carved on the surface 4 each of which has been mutilated by the removal of one claw on each foot as was often done when pieces left imperial ownership The five clawed dragon was only allowed to be used by the emperor with very severe penalties for abuse but imperial pieces were sometimes given as gifts or pilfered by the court eunuchs to be sold at a notorious market outside the northern gate of the Forbidden City The table top In the Ming period the dragon became a key imperial symbol very often appearing on lacquer from the imperial workshops for the use of the court or made to be given by the emperor 5 Initially the dragon s head was seen in the traditional profile as here but in the middle of the 15th century the frontal dragon seen looking out full face at the viewer was introduced and soon became the norm in lacquer as in other media 6 Detail of a drawer The table was lent to the British Museum s 2014 exhibition Ming 50 years that changed China 7 Notes edit Jackson Clunas 107 Clunas 107 Watt and Ford 86 Summary and More information on the V amp A page on the table use the tabs Clunas 107 Jackson Watt and Ford 31 32 Watt and Ford 104 Clunas 107References editJackson Anna ed 2001 V amp A A Hundred Highlights V amp A Publications Clunas Craig and Harrison Hall Jessica Ming 50 years that changed China 2014 British Museum Press ISBN 9780714124841 Watt James C Y Ford Barbara Brennan East Asian Lacquer The Florence and Herbert Irving Collection 1991 Metropolitan Museum of Art New York ISBN 0870996223 9780870996221 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Chinese lacquerware table amp oldid 1068381580, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
