Cleveland Museum of Art

Round Box with Bird and Peonies Design

Date

c. 1300

Medium

carved lacquer

Culture

China, late Southern Song (1127–1279) to early Yuan dynasty (1271–1368)

Department

Chinese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

The carved lacquer box and lobed silver container nearby both feature pairs of birds and flowers on their covers. There is a striking similarity in decoration, shape, and aesthetic appeal. Both boxes suggest that successful designs and shapes circulated among craftsmen, workshops, and beyond regional borders. Lacquer ware was always a valuable product in Chinese material culture and was often used as precious gifts in diplomatic, religious, and economic exchanges with other countries—Japan, for example, where this box was long preserved and acquired.

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