Day 70 - Dragon and phoenix dish
July 16, 2018
Gallery 204 displays an extensive collection of primarily Chinese ceramics from the 4th through the 17th centuries. The length and continuity of this tradition is pretty amazing, and perhaps all the more striking to me because I approach it from the "wrong" direction - newer objects first - and keep going farther and farther back in time. There are also pieces from Vietnam, Korea, Japan, and Turkey that demonstrate the Chinese influence on ceramics from these countries. In fact, there is one flask that, based on its shape and medallion design, I take to be Turkish but is really Chinese, from the Ming dynasty. I am not altogether wrong, though, since the caption says that both the shape and the design reflect the strong ties between China and West Asia in the 15th century.
Helpful signage explains the differences among earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain --basically, the type of clay used and whether the object is fired at a relatively low (earthenware) or high (stoneware and porcelain) temperature. Once again, I wish that the Met had placed this information much earlier in my exploration of these galleries. (Yes, I could have looked it up, I know....)
Many of the ceramics are decorated with the cobalt brushwork under a transparent glaze that characterizes so much Chinese porcelain. Today's object, though, includes red, green, and gold enamels painted over the glaze; it's these bright colors that I'm partially responding to, I'm sure. A large porcelain dish, perhaps 16 inches in diameter, from the late 16th or early 17th century (the Ming dynasty), it shows dragons and phoenixes, both in the center of the dish and around its edges. I have quickly come to recognize the sinuous, S-shaped form of the dragon, which appears over and over in the ceramics in these galleries. Here, it stares out bug-eyed; its crest is red, and red flames emerge below its mouth. The wings and long tail of the phoenix are also easy to discern; its head, rather bizarrely, appears at the end of a long curved neck embellished with curlicues at the base. The curlicues, too, seem to be standard in representations of phoenixes.
As it turns out, the five-toed dragon was a symbol of the emperor, while the phoenix was often associated with the empress. I note that the dish was made at Jingdezhen, the center of the imperial ceramics works. Could an emperor or empress have touched this dish? I read that Jingdezhen is to this day a major center of ceramics production. So the tradition goes on.
Helpful signage explains the differences among earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain --basically, the type of clay used and whether the object is fired at a relatively low (earthenware) or high (stoneware and porcelain) temperature. Once again, I wish that the Met had placed this information much earlier in my exploration of these galleries. (Yes, I could have looked it up, I know....)
Many of the ceramics are decorated with the cobalt brushwork under a transparent glaze that characterizes so much Chinese porcelain. Today's object, though, includes red, green, and gold enamels painted over the glaze; it's these bright colors that I'm partially responding to, I'm sure. A large porcelain dish, perhaps 16 inches in diameter, from the late 16th or early 17th century (the Ming dynasty), it shows dragons and phoenixes, both in the center of the dish and around its edges. I have quickly come to recognize the sinuous, S-shaped form of the dragon, which appears over and over in the ceramics in these galleries. Here, it stares out bug-eyed; its crest is red, and red flames emerge below its mouth. The wings and long tail of the phoenix are also easy to discern; its head, rather bizarrely, appears at the end of a long curved neck embellished with curlicues at the base. The curlicues, too, seem to be standard in representations of phoenixes.
As it turns out, the five-toed dragon was a symbol of the emperor, while the phoenix was often associated with the empress. I note that the dish was made at Jingdezhen, the center of the imperial ceramics works. Could an emperor or empress have touched this dish? I read that Jingdezhen is to this day a major center of ceramics production. So the tradition goes on.
The plate also gives new meaning to all the "dragon and phoenix" (shrimp and chicken) dishes I've seen on Chinese restaurant menus!
Comments
Post a Comment