Plate with Peony Decoration
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.
Colors in this work
Details
- Artist
- Unknown artist
- Dimensions
- diameter: width 0.165 m
- Department
- Chinese Art
- Holding institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Palette
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Select a color to find related artworks.
- Image provider
- cleveland-museum-of-art
- License
- CC0-1.0
- Credit
- John L. Severance Collection
Art Genome Taxonomy
9 tags
Subject Matter
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Flora Both · 99%
The catalog describes three peony blossoms, and the image clearly shows large carved floral blossoms accompanied by foliage and buds.
Visual Qualities
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Highly Ornamented Visual · 99%
The plate surface is extensively covered with carved peonies, foliage, buds, and concentric rim ornament, leaving little undecorated space.
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Dense Composition Visual · 99%
The floral relief extends across nearly the entire circular field in a dense, continuous arrangement.
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Allover Composition Visual · 96%
The decorative field is organized as an allover arrangement of repeated botanical forms within the circular format.
Medium and Techniques
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Carving Both · 100%
The catalog records carved cinnabar lacquer, while the image visibly shows modeled relief and incised lines defining petals, leaves, and stems.
Geographic Regions
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Chinese Art Both · 99%
The Cleveland Museum of Art classifies the object as Chinese Art, and the image shows a Chinese lacquerware dish with carved floral ornament.
Materials
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Wood Metadata · 98%
The catalog identifies wood as the support beneath the carved cinnabar lacquer.
Cultural and Religious Styles
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Yuan Dynasty Metadata · 98%
The catalog identifies the place of origin as China, Yuan dynasty (1271–1368).
Tableware, Vessels, and Objects
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Plate Both · 100%
The catalog title and description identify a plate or dish, which is clearly visible as a shallow circular object.
Source & rights
Unknown artist. Plate with Peony Decoration. Cleveland Museum of Art.
High-resolution sources
- Original TIFF ↗ 3,488 × 4,184 · Cleveland Museum Of Art · Available