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| 129 A very fine and rare Imperial carved red lacquer box Jiajing mark and period Diameter: 6 3/8 in, 16.7 cm of circular form. The top is carved against a black floral diaper ground with seven overlapping medallions, that in the centre with two of the Eight Trigrams (Bagua), qian and kun, against an air diaper, and the other six, each containing a crane in flight amid clouds, against three different diaper grounds: wan, geometric and floral, all surrounded by six auspicious emblems, including the flute and castanets. The sides of both the box and cover are carved with a pair of running two-horned, scaly dragons, in fine detail, amid scrolling lotus. The interior and base are lacquered black. The base is incised with the six-character mark of the Jiajing Emperor, and of the period. |
| In Chronicle of the Chinese Emperors: The Reign-by-Reign Record of the Rulers of Imperial China, Paludan notes that “Unique among Ming emperors, Jiajing was an ardent Daoist, actively seeking immortality” (p. 178). Symbols of immortality, such as cranes, constantly appear as decoration on works of art and porcelain produced during his reign.
For a short essay of the Eight Trigrams, which are closely associated with Daoism, see Little, Taoism and The Arts of China, no. 14, pp. 138–9, where the author notes that qian and kun are the most important of the Trigrams, representing yang and yin. A lacquer dish with similar decorative motifs, including a kun symbol, and also bearing an incised Jiajing six-character mark is illustrated in Lam, 2000 Years of Chinese Lacquer, no. 43, pp. 124–5. Scheurleer illustrates an Imperial Jiajing blue and white porcelain jar decorated with the Eight Trigrams and cranes amid clouds in The Frits Lugt collection of Chinese porcelains, no. 3, pp. 23–4. A further box decorated with cranes and the qian and kun Trigrams is illustrated by Hobson, Rackham and King in Chinese Ceramics in Private Collections, fig. 139, from the Oppenheim collection. |
