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Covered Box with Butterflies, Gourds, and Scrolling Vines

A work made of carved cinnabar lacquer on wood.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of carved cinnabar lacquer on wood.

Date:

Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Yongzheng (1723–35) or early Qianlong period (1736–95), 18th century

Artist:

China

About this artwork

This vessel plays upon a rebus: the words for “butterfly” and “gourd” together allude to the wish for innumerable generations of sons and grandsons. The image of fruit-bearing stems visually reinforces this ideal, which was highly valued in traditional Confucian society. Butterflies with beautifully contoured wings flutter amid red, orange, and pale green gourds, melons, pumpkins, or squash. The lobed fruits are decorative rather than botanically specific; together, they grow from gracefully trailing stems with large palmette leaves and elegantly curled tendrils.

Status

On View, Gallery 134

Department

Arts of Asia

Title

Covered Box with Butterflies, Gourds, and Scrolling Vines

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.

1700–1799

Medium

Carved cinnabar lacquer on wood

Dimensions

9.5 × 32.4 cm (3 3/4 × 12 3/4 in.); Diam.: 32.4 cm (12 3/4 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Mrs. Charles Fabens Kelley in memory of Charles Fabens Kelley

Reference Number

1971.510

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.

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https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/36691/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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