"Cinnabar: The Chinese Art of Carved Lacquer" Exhibition
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
This event has ended.
Although lacquer is used in many Asian cultures, the art of carving lacquer is unique to China. Lacquer is the resin (or sap) of a family of trees (rhus verniciflua) found throughout southern China. It is an amazing material that hardens when exposed to oxygen and becomes a natural plastic that is resistant to water and can withstand heat and certain acids. Known in China during the late Neolithic period (ca. 5000–ca. 2000 B.C.), lacquer was an important artistic medium from the sixth century B.C. to the second century A.D. and was often colored with minerals such as carbon (black), orpiment (yellow), and cinnabar (red) and used to paint the surfaces of sculptures and vessels. There is little evidence for the use of lacquer in China from the second to the eighth century: eighth- to tenth-century examples are often beautifully constructed but with simple shapes and little or no decoration. In the twelfth century, however, a new class of luxury lacquer objects—carved lacquer—appeared. Carved lacquer, which is predominantly red, is often known as “cinnabar” lacquer, a reference to the use of this powdered mercury sulphide as the primary colorant. This exhibition, which celebrates the Museum’s collection and includes significant loans from the Florence and Herbert Irving Collection, showcases approximately fifty examples dating from the thirteenth to the eighteenth century. It includes several recently acquired works as well as small boxes for holding incense or cosmetics and larger containers used for papers, scrolls, or presenting gifts. It also presents an important eighteenth-century screen that has recently been restored and is being displayed for the first time.
[Image: Unknown Artist "Box with pommel scroll design from Southern Song" (Yuan dynasty, 13th century) Carved red lacquer 3 3/8 in. dia.]
Media
Schedule
from August 06, 2009 to February 21, 2010