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Lot Essay
While several red lacquer examples of this form are known, black pieces of this Malvaceae flower design are rare, particularly in this large size. One black lacquer dish almost as large as the current dish, but with six lobed petals, is now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum, New York, illustrated by J. Watt and B. Ford, East Asian Lacquer: The Florence and Herbert Irving Collection, pp. 42-3, no. 2. A rather smaller seven-lobed lacquer dish with the same distinctive S-shaped petals was formerly in the Garner collection, illustrated in Chinese and Associated Lacquer from the Garner Collection, the British Museum, London, 1973, no. 2, pl. 1b. The Garner example had a metal-bound rim and bore a stamped red lacquer collector's mark on the base. A similar six-lobed dish with two characters, Caiji, written on the base was included in the exhibition, 2000 Years of Chinese Lacquer, 1993, Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong, illustrated in the Catalogue, p. 50, no. 18, where the authors suggested that Caiji may be the name of the shop where the dish was sold or the name of the owner.
A dark brown lacquer dish with seven S-shaped petals is in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taibei, where it is described as 'hibiscus-shaped', illustrated in China at the Inception of the Second Millennium - Art and Culture of the Song Dynasty, p. 164, no. III-18. A second smaller black lacquer dish of this style is in the collection of the Tokyo National Museum, illustrated in Hai-wai Yi-chen, Chinese Art in Overseas Collections: Lacquerware, 1987, no. 20. Two other smaller black dishes are published, the first in the Lee collection, illustrated by K. T. Lee and S. C. Hu, Drache und Phoenix - Lackarbeiten aus China: Sammlung der Familie Lee, Museum fur Ostasiatische Kunst der Stadt Koln, 1990, pp. 62-3, no. 16; and the other in the Shoto Museum of Art, Tokyo, of 14.7 cm. diam., included in their tenth anniversary exhibition, Chinese Lacquerware, illustrated in the Catalogue, no. 4.
A red lacquer dish of the same design and similar size (18.7 cm. diam.), to the current example, in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, is illustrated by C. Shangraw, 'Chinese Lacquers in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco', Orientations, April 1986, p. 26. Another red lacquer dish of this size and form, formerly in the Dubosc Collection was sold in London by Messrs Eskenazi in 1992, illustrated in Chinese Lacquer from the Jean-Pierre Dubosc Collection and Others, no. 4; and a further red example was exhibited at the Tokyo National Museum, illustrated in Toyo no Shikkogei: Tokubetsu Ten Oriental Lacquer Arts: Special Exhibition, Tokyo, 1977, no. 424. A fourth red example is in the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts, illustrated in Hai-wai Yi-chen, Chinese Art in Overseas Collections: Lacquerware, Taibei, no. 22; and another is in the Lee Collection, illustrated by K. T. Lee and S. C. Hu, op. cit., pp. 64-5, no. 17.
The S-shaped overlap of the bow-edged petals on this dish creates an elegant form that also became popular on fine metalwork and imperial ceramics in the Northern Song dynasty. A similar design approach can be seen on the five-petalled flange of the famous early 12th century Ru ware bowl stand in the Percival David Foundation, illustrated by R. Scott, Imperial Taste: Chinese Ceramics from the Percival David Foundation, 1989, p. 37, no. 13. In comparison, the fluidity of lines dividing the petals appears to be more successful on the lacquer mallow-shaped dish than on the ceramic examples.
A dark brown lacquer dish with seven S-shaped petals is in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taibei, where it is described as 'hibiscus-shaped', illustrated in China at the Inception of the Second Millennium - Art and Culture of the Song Dynasty, p. 164, no. III-18. A second smaller black lacquer dish of this style is in the collection of the Tokyo National Museum, illustrated in Hai-wai Yi-chen, Chinese Art in Overseas Collections: Lacquerware, 1987, no. 20. Two other smaller black dishes are published, the first in the Lee collection, illustrated by K. T. Lee and S. C. Hu, Drache und Phoenix - Lackarbeiten aus China: Sammlung der Familie Lee, Museum fur Ostasiatische Kunst der Stadt Koln, 1990, pp. 62-3, no. 16; and the other in the Shoto Museum of Art, Tokyo, of 14.7 cm. diam., included in their tenth anniversary exhibition, Chinese Lacquerware, illustrated in the Catalogue, no. 4.
A red lacquer dish of the same design and similar size (18.7 cm. diam.), to the current example, in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, is illustrated by C. Shangraw, 'Chinese Lacquers in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco', Orientations, April 1986, p. 26. Another red lacquer dish of this size and form, formerly in the Dubosc Collection was sold in London by Messrs Eskenazi in 1992, illustrated in Chinese Lacquer from the Jean-Pierre Dubosc Collection and Others, no. 4; and a further red example was exhibited at the Tokyo National Museum, illustrated in Toyo no Shikkogei: Tokubetsu Ten Oriental Lacquer Arts: Special Exhibition, Tokyo, 1977, no. 424. A fourth red example is in the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts, illustrated in Hai-wai Yi-chen, Chinese Art in Overseas Collections: Lacquerware, Taibei, no. 22; and another is in the Lee Collection, illustrated by K. T. Lee and S. C. Hu, op. cit., pp. 64-5, no. 17.
The S-shaped overlap of the bow-edged petals on this dish creates an elegant form that also became popular on fine metalwork and imperial ceramics in the Northern Song dynasty. A similar design approach can be seen on the five-petalled flange of the famous early 12th century Ru ware bowl stand in the Percival David Foundation, illustrated by R. Scott, Imperial Taste: Chinese Ceramics from the Percival David Foundation, 1989, p. 37, no. 13. In comparison, the fluidity of lines dividing the petals appears to be more successful on the lacquer mallow-shaped dish than on the ceramic examples.