The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 24, 2023

Plate with Peony Decoration

late 1300s-early 1400s

China, Yuan dynasty

(1271-1368)

Carved cinnabar lacquer on wood

Diameter: 16.5 cm (6 1/2 in.)

John L. Severance Collection 1977.6

Location

not on view

Description

This lacquer dish of strikingly deep red color is decorated with a dynamically carved design of three peony blossoms. Because of the complexity in lacquer production, items are often small and were seldom made for daily use. Lacquer was traditionally made using the sap of the lacquer tree found in southern China. Many successive layers of lacquer would be applied until the surface could be carved into complex geometric or figural forms. Red became the preferred color for lacquerware carvings, in part because the color has long been associated with good fortune in China.

Inscriptions

Inscription

Signature incised on bottom: Yang Mao

Provenance
?–1964
Sir Percival David [1892–1964], London, England, by descent to his wife Lady David
1964–1976
Lady Sheila Jane Yorke Hardy David [1914–?], London, England
December 14, 1976
(Sotheby's, London, 14 December, 1976, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1977–
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
The Chinese Exhibition; A Commemorative Catalogue of the International Exhibition of Chinese Art, Royal Academy of Arts, November 1935-March 1936. London: Faber and Faber, 1936. no. 1027
The Arts of the Ming Dynasty; An Exhibition Organised by the Arts Council of Great Britain and the Oriental Ceramic Society, November 15th to December 14th, 1957 at the Arts Council Gallery. London: Arts Council of Great Britain, 1958 Reproduced: no. 231, pl. 59
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 345 archive.org
Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1977.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 65, no. 1 (1978): 2–42. Mentioned: cat. no. 139, pp. 5 andcle 43, Reproduced: cat. no. 139, p. 32 www.jstor.org
Exhibition history

International Exhibition of Chinese Art. Burlington House, Royal Academy of Arts, London, England (November 1935-March 1936).

The Arts of the Ming Dynasty. Arts Council Gallery, The Arts Council of Great Britain and the Oriental Ceramic Society. London, UK (November 15-December 14, 1957).

Year in Review: 1977. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 28, 1977-January 22, 1978).

The Twain Shall Meet. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 30, 1985-January 5, 1986).

Greeting the Spring (Chinese art rotation, galleries 240a, 239, 241c). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 11-August 13, 2017).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1977.6