Chinese textiles

Fragment of a hanging or cover
China, mid 19th century.
Silk, peacock feathers, metallic wrapped yarn.
The Textile Museum 51.30

I tend to usually be drawing to more contemporary art as well as art by known artists. Textiles is an area I am not very familiar with but whenever I come across supreme examples of them I am blown away. Techniques are also fascinating. This textile was created in China before the invention of synthetic dyes. Green, at this time, was incredibly hard to produce because while it occurs in nature, it never occurs as a steadfast dye. In order to create the green one needed to dye the fabric twice.

In this piece, instead of dye, peacock feathers were wrapped around silk threads. Not surprisingly, this was quite a task and was reserved for only special occasions. "Dating from the mid-19th century, this piece was likely part of a lavish hanging or cover used for Buddhist ritual. The colorful design depicts the “eight precious things” of the Buddhist faith: double fish, canopy, endless knot, lotus, vase, conch, umbrella, and the wheel of law." Textile Museum

Bronze McDonald's

Zhang Hongtu
Mai Dong Lao, 2002
cast bronze
same size as actual McDonald containers
edition of 10
image: http://www.plumblossoms.com/jidachun/maodanglao.htm

Mai Dong Lao is the Chinese pronunciation of McDonald's.

麦 (mai) is wheat or a general term for wheat, barley, oats, rye, etc.
当 (dang) means appropriate, to serve as, or to be used as.
劳 (lao) means to work or to labor. (http://goodcharacters.com/blog/2007/04/05/mcdonalds-mai-dang-lao/)

A humorous use of the traditional Chinese medium bronze to create an object of American pop culture.

Chinese Artists: Reinventing Tradition
Reading Zhang Hongtu

Unicorn

Container in the Form of a Unicorn (1736-1795)
China, Qing dynasty (1644-1912), Qianlong mark and reign (1735-1795)
cloisonné enamel and gilt copper
Measurements: Overall: 16.1cm x 25.2cm
Cleveland Museum of Art 1963.678
Image, CMA collections online.

This wonderful object represents a ki-lin, (ki-male unicorn, lin-female unicorn). The ki-lin is a mythical being of Chinese mythology. Various tales and stories present this version of the unicorn as a solitary animal only appearing to humans on special missions, from peaceful reigns of rulers to foretelling the birth of great men. It is told that a ki-lin materialized in front of Confucious's pregnant mother.

In western mythology we are more familiar with unicorns taking the form of an elegant horse. It is portrayed in Chinese mythology with the body and legs of a deer, the tail of an ox, hooves of a horse and head of a wolf. This container takes more of the form of an ox, with its stout body. The decoration of the container is done with the ancient metalworking technique, cloisonne.

Birds and flowers

Title? Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)
Lu Ji (1477-?)
likely on silk

A painter of bird and flower works, I haven't been able to find much on Lu Ji, discovering the painting on ChinaCulture.org.

Ming Dynasty art was known for its many different styles stemming from its variety of schools and sects. Lu Ji and others were known for more true to life/reality paintings, Lu Ji most specifically birds and flowers. Flower-and-bird painting is a genre of Chinese painting alongside genres such as landscape. His vivid colors and finely detailed work are exemplary. The rich goldenrod of the background is what draws me to the painting, the other works I've been able to find consist of much more muted colors.

Website dedicated to understanding Chinese painting.

Monkey

Sitting Monkey, 2nd-1st centuries
State of Chu, Southern China
Lacquered carved wood
Mingqi (ming-chee, object for burial chamber)
Toledo Museum of Art 2005.49

Animals are fantastically prevalent in art throughout the centuries, from small companions and magical creatures to monkeys! Monkeys are so common in the TMA collection that there has been mention of having show just to showcase them. I discovered this wonderful little gem on my first jaunt into the Asian Galleries (and yes I should be reprimanded for not visiting them sooner, but hey my MA is in Modern and Contemporary Art! ;).

I think it is fairly cool that many of the objects I am attracted to, I later realize are highlights of the collection, which is also good because I need to build up that knowledge to be the best art librarian I can be of course.

This little monkey is particularly rare due to its age and being made out of wood, a material we would think would have long since ceased to exist after 2000 years in the form of this burial object. These figures were coated in a thin lacquer that proved resistant to insects and water. Funerary wares were so important during the Tang Dynasty that there was an government agency responsible for overseeing their manufacture. (nga.gov.au)

Yay for art, creativity and learning. A google search for mingqi brought up as a first hit an art project for students to create their own mingqi out of clay. The education programing that museums provide is fantastic, if you have a great kid in your life I highly recommend checking out what your local art center or museum offers for kids, from hour long drop in projects just for kids to recurring courses and activities for kids and adults to do together.

Bodhisattva

Guanyin (bodhisattva)
Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644
painted wood
China, Sinxi Province
Toledo Museum of Art
image courtesy of ALH (click on the title for the museum's professional photo :)

This week, I am going to focus on art in the collection of the Toledo Museum of Art. I spent Sunday afternoon wandering through most of the galleries, visiting favorite works and venturing into galleries I haven't given much time to in the past. I discovered some wonderful new works.

Today, we venture to China. It's rare that I come up with pre-20th c. non-western art, and that is very much a significant gap in my knowledge and education (mostly my fault). I have a tendency to skip over these galleries but happily spent some time in them today. Guanyin is the bodhisattva (enlightened being who refrains from entering nirvana to help other achieve enlightenment) most associated with compassion and is usually represented as a female. In this sculpture, Guanyin is represented as the form of an androgynous prince. "One of the most popular Chinese deities, Guanyin comforts the souls of the dead and acts as mediator for the wishes of the living. Carved from interlocking blocks of wood and once brightly painted, this sculpture originally sat on an artificial rocky ledge as part of a visually rich temple setting in north China."(TMA caption) Seeing these wood sculptures in person is wonderful, as you can often see remnants of paint that have survived the years. I enjoy envisioning the sculpture in its original polychromed (multi-colored) form.

A new resource I came across while researching this entry, the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam has a pretty good art encyclopedia on its museum website, it is in English and has audio for the entries. The entries surely stem from their collections but they are decently broad so it has a lot to offer.