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Lacquer Tea Bowl 乾隆御制雕漆盏

Black bowl with a narrow red base and embossed elements in red, including a floral border at top and bottom and Chinese characters in the middle.
Public Domain

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  • Black bowl with a narrow red base and embossed elements in red, including a floral border at top and bottom and Chinese characters in the middle.

Date:

Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Qianlong reign mark and period (1736–1795)

Artist:

China

About this artwork

This finely carved two-color lacquer tea bowl bears an inscription of a poem composed by Emperor Qianlong in 1746. The poem praises the “three purity tea” (sanqing cha), which consists of plum blossom petals, fingered citron and pine nuts, and must be brewed in melted snow water. According to imperial records, Emperor Qianlong often served sanqing tea during his renowned tea gatherings held in the palace during the New Year season. It was at one of these banquets that he wrote this poem. Although the same poem appears on many tea utensils made for the Emperor, lacquer pieces like this bowl are particularly rare due to the extensive time and effort required for their production.

Status

On View, Gallery 134

Department

Arts of Asia

Title

Lacquer Tea Bowl 乾隆御制雕漆盏

Place

China (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1736–1795

Medium

Cinnabar and black lacquer with carved decoration

Dimensions

5.6 × 10.9 cm (2 3/16 × 4 15/16 in.); Diam.: 10.9 cm (4 15/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Martin A. Ryerson and C. L. Hutchinson

Reference Number

1888.165

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/134/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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