Chest for Storing Garments
Unknown Artist
1400s
Medium
lacquered wood with mother-of-pearl inlay
Dimensions
{"overall":{"height":0.43,"width":0.56,"depth":0.547}}
Classification
Lacquer
Department
Chinese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund
Accession Number
1975.10
About this artwork
This precious lacquer box is decorated with bird and plant motifs and figures in mother-of-pearl inlay. The decoration depicts the leisurely pursuit of scholars in nature and a garden setting. Scholars play the board game weiqi, have philosophical conversations, pluck a qin (a zither-like instrument with strings), and read books. Lacquer chests of this type were used to store garments neatly folded along their straight seams. The mother-of-pearl inlay from shells is a technique that was typicall...