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Lot Essay
A Beautiful and Rare 15th Century Cloisonné Box
Rosemary Scott, Senior International Academic Consultant, Asian Art
This exquisite little cloisonné box is decorated on the base with clusters of deep purple grapes and on the lid with a very rare design of yellow autumn hibiscus (Abelmoschus manihot, 黃秋葵 huang qiukui). The cloisonné artist has been at pains to use fine gilded lines to emphasize the delicacy of the veining on the flower petals, and has used a deep purplish-red with great restraint to indicate the characteristic dark centre of the bloom.
Although seldom applied to the decorative arts, yellow autumn hibiscus was a popular subject for painters from the Song dynasty onwards and can be seen in a number of extant early works such as Hibiscus and Rock by Li Di 李迪 (ca. AD 1100 – after AD 1197), now in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei. With its delicate blooms and subtle fragrance, autumn hibiscus was seen as a symbol of beauty and virtue, while its association with humility also endeared it to retired scholar officials. Among the earliest surviving depictions of autumn hibiscus on the decorative arts is a rare Southern Song (1127-1279) or Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) square painted lacquer tray in the collection of the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, which has a spray of these flowers painted in colours and gold in the centre (see Terese Tse Bartholomew, The Hundred Flowers – Botanical Motifs in Chinese Art, San Francisco, 1985, no. 41). Autumn hibiscus also appear on a famous circular carved lacquer ‘birds’ dish in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. This carved vermilion lacquer dish is dated to the Yuan or early Ming dynasty, and came from the Florence and Herbert Irving Collection. It is illustrated by J.C.Y. Watt and B. Brennan Form in East Asian Lacquer – The Florence and Herbert Irving Collection, New York, 1991, pp. 68-9, no. 19. The volume misidentifies the flowers as ‘hollyhock’, but it is surely autumn hibiscus which provide such effective visual counterpoint to the birds in the complex decorative scheme on the Irving dish.
Yellow autumn hibiscus appears on several extant woven decorative 緙絲 kesi panels dating to the Ming dynasty. The Liaoning Provincial Museum, Shenyang, and the National Palace Museum, Taipei each has in its collection a kesi tapestry depicting yellow autumn hibiscus with yellow chrysanthemums and blue asters beside rocks, on one of which a bird is perched. The scene is known as 三秋 san qiu (Three Autumns), and is believed to have been inspired by a work from the Song dynasty artist Cui Bo (崔白active 1068-77).
Perhaps most significant in the context of the current cloisonné box, autumn hibiscus is one the flowers that provides the rarest of all the designs on blue and white porcelain ‘palace’ bowls made for the Chenghua Emperor. Porcelain bowls of this design have been excavated from the late Chenghua stratum at the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen (see The Emperor’s broken china – Reconstructing Chenghua porcelain, London, 1995, pp. 60 and 64, no. 69). A complete bowl of this type is in the collection of Sir Percival David (illustrated by Rosemary Scott and Stacey Pierson in Flawless Porcelains: Imperial Ceramics from the Reign of the Chenghua Emperor, London, 1995, p. 22, no. 1). The appearance of autumn hibiscus on imperial Chenghua porcelain is particularly interesting when one considers that clusters of grapes were also a favoured motif on imperial Chenghua porcelain. Indeed, the two motifs on Chenghua doucai porcelains which have been the most esteemed since the 15th century are ‘chickens’ and grapes. The doucai grape motif was especially prized for the rich enamel colours employed on the grapes themselves, which can be seen on small dishes and on small cups with low foot and small stem cups (see A Legacy of Chenghua – Imperial Porcelain of the Chenghua Reign Excavated from Zhushan, Jingdezhen, Hong Kong, 1998, pp. 288-9, no. C100 and pp. 296-7, no. C104). Scientists have suggested a close relationship between the enamels used on cloisonné enamels and those used as overglaze enamels on porcelain, and the richness of the deep purple used for the grapes on the current cloisonné enamel box is particularly striking.
While still relatively rare on cloisonné enamels of the 15th century, grapes do appear on a small number of vessels – especially tripod censers. A small cloisonné enamel li censer from the collection of Pierre Uldry is decorated with clusters of grapes descending down each of its pouched legs (see Helmut Brinker and Albert Lutz, Chinese Cloisonné – The Pierre Uldry Collection, New York, 1989, no. 35). This tripod, which is dated to the second half of the 15th century, provides an interesting comparison to the base of the current box, as it shares both the enamel colours and the shape of the cloisons used in the depiction of specific elements. It is particularly significant that both vessels share the sophisticated use of three enamel colours – dark green, yellow and red – applied to a single leaf. While the use of two colours is seen quite regularly, the use of three colours – with its concomitant firing difficulties – is much rarer. This impressive shading of three colours on a single leaf is also seen on some of the hibiscus leaves on the lid of the current box.
The choice of grapes as a decorative motif is interesting since, unlike autumn hibiscus, grapes do not appear to have been indigenous to China, but are among the plants that are recorded as having been introduced to China from Central Asia by Zhang Qian, a returning envoy of Emperor Wudi in 128 BC. However, by the early 15th century many different varieties of grape were grown in China. Indeed, records show that both green and black grapes were grown by the beginning of the 6th century AD, and Song dynasty texts mention a seedless variety. An extensive illustrated entry on grapes (Vitis vinifera, Chinese 葡萄 putao) is included in 卷 juan 23 of the 重修政和經史證類備用本草 Chongxiu Zhenghe Jingshi Zhenglei Beiyong Bencao (Classified and Consolidated Armamentarium Pharmacopoeia of the Zhenghe Reign [AD 1111-1117]). Grapes rarely appeared as decoration on Chinese art objects of the early period, with the exception of those depicted in relief on pilgrim flasks of the period Six Dynasties-Sui Dynasty (AD 6th-7th century) – see Masahiko Sato and Gakuji Hasebe (eds.), Sekai Tōji Zenshu 11 Sui Tang, Tokyo, 1976, p. 38, no. 25 - which were influenced by the arts of Central and Western Asia. Grapes became a more popular motif in the Tang dynasty, when, again following inspiration from the west, they regularly appeared, for example, as part of the ubiquitous 'lion and grape' motif on bronze mirrors. As, far as grapes painted on Chinese ceramics is concerned, they appeared occasionally as a minor part of the decoration with other plants, on 14th century Yuan dynasty blue and white vessels, as on the shoulder of the Yuan jar illustrated by 朱裕平Zhu Yuping, 元代青花瓷Yuandai qinghua ci, Shanghai, 2000, p. 156, no. 48, but it was in the early 15th century that grapes became a really popular motif on imperial porcelains decorated in underglaze cobalt blue and begin to appear on cloisonné enamels. By the 16th century grapes were a popular choice for cloisonné enamel decoration, but it may be argued that the 15th century depictions are the more delicate and sophisticated in their decorative schemes and use of colour.
The current box is an exquisite example of the cloisonné enamel craftman’s art, and it seems probable that it dates to the reign of the Chenghua Emperor.
Rosemary Scott, Senior International Academic Consultant, Asian Art
This exquisite little cloisonné box is decorated on the base with clusters of deep purple grapes and on the lid with a very rare design of yellow autumn hibiscus (Abelmoschus manihot, 黃秋葵 huang qiukui). The cloisonné artist has been at pains to use fine gilded lines to emphasize the delicacy of the veining on the flower petals, and has used a deep purplish-red with great restraint to indicate the characteristic dark centre of the bloom.
Although seldom applied to the decorative arts, yellow autumn hibiscus was a popular subject for painters from the Song dynasty onwards and can be seen in a number of extant early works such as Hibiscus and Rock by Li Di 李迪 (ca. AD 1100 – after AD 1197), now in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei. With its delicate blooms and subtle fragrance, autumn hibiscus was seen as a symbol of beauty and virtue, while its association with humility also endeared it to retired scholar officials. Among the earliest surviving depictions of autumn hibiscus on the decorative arts is a rare Southern Song (1127-1279) or Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) square painted lacquer tray in the collection of the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, which has a spray of these flowers painted in colours and gold in the centre (see Terese Tse Bartholomew, The Hundred Flowers – Botanical Motifs in Chinese Art, San Francisco, 1985, no. 41). Autumn hibiscus also appear on a famous circular carved lacquer ‘birds’ dish in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. This carved vermilion lacquer dish is dated to the Yuan or early Ming dynasty, and came from the Florence and Herbert Irving Collection. It is illustrated by J.C.Y. Watt and B. Brennan Form in East Asian Lacquer – The Florence and Herbert Irving Collection, New York, 1991, pp. 68-9, no. 19. The volume misidentifies the flowers as ‘hollyhock’, but it is surely autumn hibiscus which provide such effective visual counterpoint to the birds in the complex decorative scheme on the Irving dish.
Yellow autumn hibiscus appears on several extant woven decorative 緙絲 kesi panels dating to the Ming dynasty. The Liaoning Provincial Museum, Shenyang, and the National Palace Museum, Taipei each has in its collection a kesi tapestry depicting yellow autumn hibiscus with yellow chrysanthemums and blue asters beside rocks, on one of which a bird is perched. The scene is known as 三秋 san qiu (Three Autumns), and is believed to have been inspired by a work from the Song dynasty artist Cui Bo (崔白active 1068-77).
Perhaps most significant in the context of the current cloisonné box, autumn hibiscus is one the flowers that provides the rarest of all the designs on blue and white porcelain ‘palace’ bowls made for the Chenghua Emperor. Porcelain bowls of this design have been excavated from the late Chenghua stratum at the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen (see The Emperor’s broken china – Reconstructing Chenghua porcelain, London, 1995, pp. 60 and 64, no. 69). A complete bowl of this type is in the collection of Sir Percival David (illustrated by Rosemary Scott and Stacey Pierson in Flawless Porcelains: Imperial Ceramics from the Reign of the Chenghua Emperor, London, 1995, p. 22, no. 1). The appearance of autumn hibiscus on imperial Chenghua porcelain is particularly interesting when one considers that clusters of grapes were also a favoured motif on imperial Chenghua porcelain. Indeed, the two motifs on Chenghua doucai porcelains which have been the most esteemed since the 15th century are ‘chickens’ and grapes. The doucai grape motif was especially prized for the rich enamel colours employed on the grapes themselves, which can be seen on small dishes and on small cups with low foot and small stem cups (see A Legacy of Chenghua – Imperial Porcelain of the Chenghua Reign Excavated from Zhushan, Jingdezhen, Hong Kong, 1998, pp. 288-9, no. C100 and pp. 296-7, no. C104). Scientists have suggested a close relationship between the enamels used on cloisonné enamels and those used as overglaze enamels on porcelain, and the richness of the deep purple used for the grapes on the current cloisonné enamel box is particularly striking.
While still relatively rare on cloisonné enamels of the 15th century, grapes do appear on a small number of vessels – especially tripod censers. A small cloisonné enamel li censer from the collection of Pierre Uldry is decorated with clusters of grapes descending down each of its pouched legs (see Helmut Brinker and Albert Lutz, Chinese Cloisonné – The Pierre Uldry Collection, New York, 1989, no. 35). This tripod, which is dated to the second half of the 15th century, provides an interesting comparison to the base of the current box, as it shares both the enamel colours and the shape of the cloisons used in the depiction of specific elements. It is particularly significant that both vessels share the sophisticated use of three enamel colours – dark green, yellow and red – applied to a single leaf. While the use of two colours is seen quite regularly, the use of three colours – with its concomitant firing difficulties – is much rarer. This impressive shading of three colours on a single leaf is also seen on some of the hibiscus leaves on the lid of the current box.
The choice of grapes as a decorative motif is interesting since, unlike autumn hibiscus, grapes do not appear to have been indigenous to China, but are among the plants that are recorded as having been introduced to China from Central Asia by Zhang Qian, a returning envoy of Emperor Wudi in 128 BC. However, by the early 15th century many different varieties of grape were grown in China. Indeed, records show that both green and black grapes were grown by the beginning of the 6th century AD, and Song dynasty texts mention a seedless variety. An extensive illustrated entry on grapes (Vitis vinifera, Chinese 葡萄 putao) is included in 卷 juan 23 of the 重修政和經史證類備用本草 Chongxiu Zhenghe Jingshi Zhenglei Beiyong Bencao (Classified and Consolidated Armamentarium Pharmacopoeia of the Zhenghe Reign [AD 1111-1117]). Grapes rarely appeared as decoration on Chinese art objects of the early period, with the exception of those depicted in relief on pilgrim flasks of the period Six Dynasties-Sui Dynasty (AD 6th-7th century) – see Masahiko Sato and Gakuji Hasebe (eds.), Sekai Tōji Zenshu 11 Sui Tang, Tokyo, 1976, p. 38, no. 25 - which were influenced by the arts of Central and Western Asia. Grapes became a more popular motif in the Tang dynasty, when, again following inspiration from the west, they regularly appeared, for example, as part of the ubiquitous 'lion and grape' motif on bronze mirrors. As, far as grapes painted on Chinese ceramics is concerned, they appeared occasionally as a minor part of the decoration with other plants, on 14th century Yuan dynasty blue and white vessels, as on the shoulder of the Yuan jar illustrated by 朱裕平Zhu Yuping, 元代青花瓷Yuandai qinghua ci, Shanghai, 2000, p. 156, no. 48, but it was in the early 15th century that grapes became a really popular motif on imperial porcelains decorated in underglaze cobalt blue and begin to appear on cloisonné enamels. By the 16th century grapes were a popular choice for cloisonné enamel decoration, but it may be argued that the 15th century depictions are the more delicate and sophisticated in their decorative schemes and use of colour.
The current box is an exquisite example of the cloisonné enamel craftman’s art, and it seems probable that it dates to the reign of the Chenghua Emperor.