Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644)
Yongle (1403 - 1424)

Chinese carved red lacquer over wood

Two seated gentlemen enjoy this garden setting, which is imbued with symbols of longevity such as a pine tree and the fungus of immortality (at the lower left). In front of the pavilion, large rocks are arranged to imitate a mountain with a cavelike doorway, an allusion to a paradise of the immortals that is entered through a grotto. The man holding a wand may be a Daoist sage and his visitor a disciple seeking the secrets of immortality. As soon as the student becomes an immortal, the swooping crane will carry him heavenward to join other transcendent beings.
The precisely carved geometric patterns in the background—a different one for air, water, and land re hallmarks of the exemplary workmanship of early fifteenth-century lacquer ware.

Return