Artwork Page for Jar with Scenes of Frolicking Xingxing

Details / Information for Jar with Scenes of Frolicking Xingxing

Jar with Scenes of Frolicking Xingxing

猩々戯画漆絵壺

1302

Japan, Kamakura period

(1185–1333)
Medium
Zelkova wood, covered with hemp cloth and colored lacquer, and bronze-plated wood fittings
Measurements
Diameter: 47.2 cm (18 9/16 in.); Overall: 49.4 cm (19 7/16 in.)
Credit Line
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 1984.8
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Did You Know?

To make this vessel, a wooden form was covered with successive layers of lacquer, the clear sap of the highly toxic Rhus verniciflua tree.

Description

This jar features a design of a monkey-like animal ladling sake into his mouth from a vessel bobbing in waves, along with others trying on sandals and crossing a river. In the 1300s, Chinese literature was a powerful source of inspiration for artistic practice in Japan, and this scene was inspired by the exploits of the mythical xingxing, a beast of ancient Chinese lore for whom people left straw sandals and wine. The xingxing would then recite the names of the ancestors of those who had left them the gifts.
A dark wood and lacquer vessel features a rounded body tapering to a flat base and a short, chipped neck. Three sets of horizontal red bands encircle the jar, while four circular bronze fittings are spaced around the wide shoulder. Near the base, red-painted furry figures crouch over wavy lines; one faces our right, reaching toward a small footed bowl.

Jar with Scenes of Frolicking Xingxing

1302

Japan, Kamakura period (1185–1333)

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