June 25, 2016–October 9, 2017
Exhibition Location: The Met Fifth Avenue, Gallery 221, Florence and Herbert Irving Galleries for Chinese Decorative Arts
An exhibition featuring 45 magnificent examples of Chinese carved lacquer will go on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art beginning June 25. Drawn entirely from The Met collection, Cinnabar: The Chinese Art of Carved Lacquer, 14th–19th Century will explore the development of this significant artistic tradition.
The exhibition is made possible by the Joseph Hotung Fund.
Among the objects on view will be works created as birthday gifts bearing symbols of long life, such as peaches, cranes, the character for longevity (shou), and representations of children. One of the highlights is a unique, large, lobed tray of the 14th century, carved with a delightful scene showing two women and 33 children. Other early pieces on view include a dish with a scene of long-tailed birds and hollyhocks. A rare screen that was produced by Lu Guisheng—a famous 19th-century artist and one of the few individuals working in lacquer whose name is recorded in Chinese history—provides a spectacular finale to this tradition.
Lacquer, the resin of a family of trees found in southern China, hardens when exposed to oxygen and humidity and can become a natural plastic. Tinted with cinnabar (red), carbon (black), and other minerals, it has been used as an artistic medium in China since at least the sixth century B.C. Carved lacquer, which involves applying multiple layers of lacquer onto a substructure (usually wood) and then entails carving through the layers, the most laborious and time-consuming of all lacquering techniques.
The exhibition is curated by Denise Patry Leidy, Brooke Russell Astor Curator of Chinese Art in the Museum’s Department of Asian Art.
The exhibition will be featured on The Met website, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter via the hashtag #ChineseLacquer.
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May 17, 2016
Image: Dish with long-tailed birds and hollyhock, Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), 14th century. Carved red lacquer, H. 1/8 in., Diam. 12 3/4 in. (H. 0.3 cm x Diam. 32.4 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Florence and Herbert Irving, in honor of James C. Y. Watt, 2011 (2011.120.1)
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