AN EXTREMELY RARE POLYCHROME TIXI LACQUER BOWLSTAND

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AN EXTREMELY RARE POLYCHROME TIXI LACQUER BOWLSTAND
SONG-YUAN DYNASTY (960-1368)

The upper compressed globular section forming a receptacle is superbly carved at an angle through the thick lacquer, predominately of cinnabar lacquer interspersed with three thin layers of green lacquer, to produce two registers of spectacle-shaped ruyi design, repeated on the flange, the underside similarly carved with a thick layer of green lacquer, interspersed with three thin layers of red lacquer, the splayed foot with a single register of spectacle-shaped ruyi design, the hollow interior and interior of foot ring with red lacquer
7 7/8 in. (20 cm.) diam., box

Literature

Lee King-tsi and Hu Shih-chang, 'On Chinese Tixi Lacquer', Orientations, September 1993, p. 68, p. 12

Exhibited

The Museum of East Asian Art, Cologne, 1990, Dragon and Phoenix, Chinese Lacquer Ware, The Lee Family Collection, Catalogue, no. 3
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1990/91
The Shoto Museum of Art, Shibuya, Japan, 1991, Chinese Lacquerware, Catalogue, no. 17
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1993, 2000 Years of Chinese Lacquer, Catalogue, no. 22
The Nezu Institute of Fine Arts, Tokyo, 2004, The Colors and Forms of Song and Yuan China, Catalogue, no. 59

Lot Essay

The use of green lacquer to decorate underside of the flange and the splayed foot is highly unusual. The only other example appears to be the bowlstand in the Shandong Provincial Museum, illustrated in Shangdong Sheng Bowuyuan Cangzhen - Gongyi Pinyuan, Shandong wenhua yinxiang chubanshe, 2004, no. 49. Green lacquer is rare in the Chinese lacquer repertoire. As recorded by Song Minqiu (1019-1079), green lacquer vessels were first used by prime minister Wang Dan (957-1017), cf. 2000 Years of Chinese Lacquer, the Hong Kong Oriental Ceramic Society and the Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1993, p. 58.

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