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A Rare Song Dynasty Carved Lacquer Bowl
Rosemary Scott, Senior International Academic Consultant, Asian Art
This bowl is a very rare example of a Song dynasty lacquer bowl with carved floral decoration. While excavated examples of Song dynasty carved lacquer are rare, a piece was published as early as 1957 (see Shi Shuqing, Qi lin zhi xiaolu (A short note on lacquer inscriptions), Wenwu, No. 7, 1957, pp. 56-7. Unfortunately, the 1957 report in Wenwu only illustrated a rubbing of the design on the top, but the piece is, nevertheless, interesting for two reasons. Firstly, it has on the base an inscription reading Zhenghe nian zhi (made in the Zhenghe reign, AD 1111-1118) and secondly on the interior of its lid is a seal mark reading gong bao (palace treasure), which makes it fairly clear that as early as the beginning of the 12th century carved lacquers were being made for the Northern Song court.
Close examination of the current bowl reveals that although the upper surface of the decoration is black, the overall depth of lacquer through which the decoration is carved is, in fact, made up of alternating layers of red and black lacquer. This is reminiscent of the Song wares with carved linear scrolling decoration, which are often referred to as guri lacquer, but should more properly be called ‘carved layered lacquer’ in English. The name guri is a Japanese term referring to the designs on the lacquer, which resemble the form of a sword pommel. In China this type of lacquer is called tixi ( literally carved rhinoceros). These lacquers with carved scrolling designs came to prominence in the Song dynasty, and examples were excavated in the 1980s and 1990s from Southern Song dynasty tombs at Wujin in Jiangsu province and at Fuzhou City. Song dynasty lacquer wares with carved designs of flowers are much rarer, but may be linked to an important group of Chinese lacquers preserved in Japan.
Forty-three Chinese lacquers are recorded as being brought to Japan by the Chinese Buddhist monk Xu Ziyuan (1226-1286, known in Japan as Bukkō Kokusi), who arrived in Kamakura in 1279 and became the first abbot in the Engaku-ji. As the monk arrived in the last year of the Song dynasty, the lacquers may be assumed to have been made in the late Southern Song period. In 1363 an inventory of the more important works of art in the collection of the Hōjō regents of Kamakura, Butsu-nichi-an kōmotsu mokuroku, was compiled by a priest of the Butsu-nichi-an, a sub-temple of the Engaku-ji (see Sir John Figgess, ‘Ming and Pre-Ming Lacquer in the Japanese Tea Ceremony’, Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, vol. 37, 1967/69, p. 37-51. This includes details of both carved lacquers and marbled lacquers (xipi literally, rhinoceros hide) - those described as xipi probably included some which would more properly be called tixi (carved layered lacquers). Although it is not possible to be absolutely certain that the pieces still preserved in the Engaku-ji are those brought by Xu Ziyuan in 1279, it is extremely likely that they are. Four of the Southern Song carved lacquers from the Engaku-ji were included in an exhibition at the Nezu Institute of Fine Arts, Tokyo, in 2004 and are illustrated in The Colors and Forms of Song and Yuan China – Featuring Lacquerwares, Ceramics, and Metalwares, Tokyo, 2004, nos. 80, 92, 94 and 105. Several features, including the relatively flatter surface and less rounded edges of the carving of floral designs on these Engaku-ji Southern Song pieces, compared to the later Yuan dynasty examples, can also be seen on the current bowl.
In addition, the current bowl has been fitted with metal liners, both on the interior of the vessel, and inside the foot ring. As the liners curve over the edges of the mouth rim and foot rim, they would have protected these vulnerable areas of the precious lacquer from damage. It is also probable that the metal liner on the interior would have been of benefit if the bowl was to be used in association with hot liquids.
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