Archive for the ‘National Treasure in Palace Museum’ Category
The Song Dynasty(960-1279)
Length: 30 cm; Width: 11.8 cm; Height: 18.3 cm
The pillow is shaped like a boy lying prostrate on a couch and the boy’s back is used as the surface of the pillow. The boy folds his arms to support his head; his right hand holds a ball; his feet raise and cross with one another; he wears a sleeveless jacket and a gown, whose lower part is printed with medallion design. The sides of the couch is pressed with patterns and decorated with panels. One side is adorned with raised hornless dragon; the opposite side is plain; the other two sides are ornamented with tops of ruyi. The glaze color of the body is cream while the bottom is plain and has two holes.
Pillow is a cushion to support a sleeper’s head. In ancient China, jade and porcelain pillows were popular because jade and porcelain could comfort the body, soothe the spirit and even play the function of “clearing eyesight and benefiting eyeball, so that one could read small characters when one is old”. Porcelain pillow originated in the Sui dynasty and flourished in the Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties. This boy-shaped pillow characterized by exquisite molding and lively and leisurely bearing is a precious work of art among ancient Chinese porcelain objects.
Boy-Shaped Pillow, Ceramic collection in Beijing Palace Museum
Qianlong reign (1736-1795), Qing dynasty
Huanghuali wood
Length: 212 cm, Height: 172 cm
Furniture Collection in Palace Museum---Huanghuali Wood Screen Inlaid with Stained Ivory, Jade and Carved Chicken-wing Wood (Huanghuali bianzuo diao xichimu ranya shanshui louge pingfeng, 清黄花梨嵌牙木雕)
The screen is made of Huanghuali wood, with stained ivory, jade, and xichi wood inlay against a blue-glazed background. Chicken-wing wood, in Chinese known as xichi mu or more commonly known as jichi mu, has a wood grain that strongly resembles a chicken wing (ji chi).
The stained ivory, jade and Chicken-wing wood have been carved into low-relief figures in a mysterious landscape with mountains, streams, bridges, clouds and pavilions. It is all carefully crafted into a magical world.
The screen is fixed on a Sumeru-shaped wooden stand, the feet of which are engraved with cloud patterns. The wood screen is a masterpiece among woodcarvings of the Qianlong period.