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. To allow for the depth of carving, numerous layers of different colored lacquer were applied to a core of wood strengthened by a fabric covering impregnated with lacquer.

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