MING DYNASTY, 16TH CENTURY

Details

AN UNUSUALLY LARGE BLACK TIXI LACQUER TRAY
MING DYNASTY, 16TH CENTURY
The dish is of circular shape, finely carved to the interior through thick layers of alternate black and red lacquer with bands of sword pommel scrolls radiating from five central ruyi-heads enclosing a circle. The exterior is similarly carved with xiangcao scrolls. The plain base is supported by a central brace, dividing two rows of characters written in red, one row reading Dingmao nian, 'made in the year of dingmao', corresponding to 1507 or 1567; the other row reading Dong Qi zao, 'made by Dong Qi'.
21 7/8 in. (55.5 cm.) diam.

Exhibited

The Shoto Museum of Art, Shibuya, Japan, 1991, Chinese Lacquerware, Catalogue, no. 30

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Lot Essay

It is extremely rare to find Ming tixi lacquer trays of this very large size, as large lacquer wares from this period usually come in the form of boxes. The Linden-Museum, Stuttgart has a large tixi red lacquer barbed-rim tray dated to the Yuan to Ming dynasty, formerly in the collection of Fritz Low-Beer, but this example is notably smaller than the current lot with a diameter of 46.5 cm. It is illustrated in Im Zeichen Des Drachen, Munster and Stuttgart, 2007. pl. 37. The Palace Museum, Beijing also has a large cinnabar lacquer tray carved with peacock motifs, dated to the Yongle period and illustrated in Lacquer Wares of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2006, pl. 17. This too, measuring 44.5 cm. in diameter, is smaller than the current tray.

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