Chinese Decorative Arts Gallery


click for a larger view

Chinese ceramics and works of jade and other exquisite stones are now on view at the Worcester Art Museum, in a new gallery dedicated to Chinese decorative arts. Most of the objects were created in late imperial China [between the Song (960-1279) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties], when Chinese culture flourished with imperial patronage and scholar-officials and affluent merchants emerged as consumers of luxury goods. The demand for elegant works to decorate shelves or desks inspired masterpieces of exceptional beauty and technical virtuosity. Jade, associated with status and invested with noble, evil-averting properties, was laboriously fashioned through grinding with tools and abrasive powders. Chinese ceramics of varied shapes were crafted to perfection and embellished with sophisticated glazes and innovative decorative techniques, eventually giving rise to a flourishing porcelain industry in Jingdezhen (Jiangxi province). Some works creatively reinterpreted ancient models and motifs, while others were charged with symbolic meanings—flower, fruit and animal motifs conveyed wishes for a long life, fortune, health, success, happy marriage or children.

The small jade sculpture shown here, appropriate for a scholar's desk, refers to spring. It depicts a pair of sheep looking at their newborn. The family rests under a pine tree near a fresh stream and mushrooms of immortality. The word for sheep (yang) is a homophone for the Taoist male principle (yang) and for the unbroken lines (yang) used in fortune-telling trigrams discussed in The Book of Changes (I Ching). In reference to the trigram of three long lines (symbolizing the three months of spring) the three sheep represent wishes for a new and prosperous beginning in spring.

click for a larger view

The jar shown here is decorated with plum blossoms bursting forth on old, bare branches silhouetted against cracked ice rendered in overlapping shades of blue. The blossoms, emblematic of perseverance, rebirth and renewal at the end of winter, are also the first sign of spring. Produced to contain tea or preserved fruits, such blue-and-white porcelain “ginger jars” were given as presents at the New Year and could also be used for decorative display.

The establishment of the Chinese Decorative Arts Gallery has been inspired and supported by recent gifts of jades by John and Maria Dirlam and funding by the Dirlam Charitable Trust.

Featured Artwork