Minneapolis Institute of Art

Altar Frontal

China

Date

19th century

Medium

silk, gold thread, cotton, embroidery

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

In the center of the main rectangle, a large elephant bears a cauldron containing the Eight Treasures within a landscape of various plants associated with good fortune (orchid, peony, magnolia, fungus, chrysanthemum, bamboo) and clouds. The elephant, one of the most important elements in Chinese Buddhist art, was incorporated into court decorative art and given new meanings during the Qing dynasty. Here it would have represented the phrase taiping youxiang (“When the elephant presents itself, the universe is at peace”). In Chinese, the words for “vase” and “peace” sound the same, so images of an elephant with a vase (or cauldron here) is shorthand for the universe being at peace. China, Asia

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