Box with Cover

Date19th Century

Mediumwood with cinnabar lacquer

DimensionsOverall: 6 1/4 x 10 3/4 x 10 3/4 in. (15.9 x 27.3 x 27.3 cm)

Credit LineReynolda Estate

CopyrightPublic Domain

Object number1922.2.106ab

DescriptionOne of a pair of large round wooden boxes covered in cinnabar lacquer. Each is meticulously carved with the same landscape containing Chinese figures, including an older female seated in a wheeled cart being pulled by a young figure bent over and followed by a female figure traveling on foot and holding an infant. A wide border of a diamond diaper pattern surrounds the central scene and is further decorated with clusters of melons and vines alternating with bats. The sides of the bottom also have borders with diamond diaper ground, melons, and bats. In China, melons symbolize family unity, while bats signify longevity.

Lacquer is remarkably resistant to water, acid, and, to a certain extent, heat. East Asian lacquer is a resin made from the highly toxic sap of the Rhus verniciflua tree, which is native to the area and a close relative of poison ivy. Raw lacquer is collected annually by extracting the viscous sap through notches cut into the trees. It is gently heated to remove excess moisture and impurities. Purified lacquer can then be applied to the surface of nearly any object. After being coated with a thin layer of lacquer, the object is placed in a warm, humid, draft-free cabinet to dry. The number of layers applied to a form is determined by the type of decoration that is chosen.

Lacquer may be decorated in a variety of ways. Carved lacquer, called diaoqi, is lacquer art rendered in its purest form and uniquely Chinese. This method of decoration involves carving built-up layers of thinly applied coats of lacquer into a three-dimensional design. Cinnabar is lacquer that has been stained red with cinnabar, a bright red mineraloid consisting of mercury and sulfur. The word cinnabar comes from the Persian meaning "dragon's blood." Cinnabar lacquer is prehistoric in origin; carving as a technique applied to cinnabar lacquer evolved after the tenth century and continues to be practiced.
ProvenanceFrom 1964
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, acquired in 1964. [1]

Notes:
[1] In the early 1960s Charles H. Babcock (1899-1967) gave the house and its contents to the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation. The house was then incorporated as a museum and collection (Reynolda House, Inc.) on December 18, 1964 with the signing of the charter at its first board meeting. The museum first opened to the public in September 1965.

Status

On view