COLLECTION NAME:
The AMICA Library
mediaCollectionId
AMICO~1~1
The AMICA Library
Collection
true
AMICA ID:
CMA_.1977.7
amicoid
CMA_.1977.7
AMICA ID
false
AMICA Library Year:
1998
aly
1998
AMICA Library Year
false
Object Type:
Decorative Arts and Utilitarian Objects
oty
Decorative Arts and Utilitarian Objects
Object Type
false
Creator Name:
Bishan, Zhu
crn
Bishan, Zhu
Creator Name
false
Creator Nationality:
Asian; Far East Asian; Chinese
crc
Asian; Far East Asian; Chinese
Creator Nationality
false
Creator Role:
artist
crr
artist
Creator Role
false
Creator Dates/Places:
c. 1300 - aft 1362
cdt
c. 1300 - aft 1362
Creator Dates/Places
false
Gender:
M
cgn
M
Gender
false
Creator Name-CRT:
Zhu Bishan
crt
Zhu Bishan
Creator Name-CRT
false
Title:
Raft Cup (Chabei)
otn
Raft Cup (Chabei)
Title
false
Title Type:
Primary
ott
Primary
Title Type
false
View:
Full View
rid
Full View
View
false
Creation Date:
1345
oct
1345
Creation Date
false
Creation Start Date:
1345
ocs
1345
Creation Start Date
false
Creation End Date:
1345
oce
1345
Creation End Date
false
Materials and Techniques:
hammered silver pieces soldered together, with chased decoration
omd
hammered silver pieces soldered together, with chased decoration
Materials and Techniques
false
Classification Term:
Silver
clt
Silver
Classification Term
false
Classification Term:
Silver
clt
Silver
Classification Term
false
Dimensions:
Overall:
met
Overall:
Dimensions
false
AMICA Contributor:
The Cleveland Museum of Art
oon
The Cleveland Museum of Art
AMICA Contributor
false
Owner Location:
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
oop
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Owner Location
false
ID Number:
1977.7
ooa
1977.7
ID Number
false
Credit Line:
John L. Severance Fund
ooc
John L. Severance Fund
Credit Line
false
Rights:
orl
<a href="http://www.clemusart.com/museum/disclaim2.html"target="_new">http://www.clemusart.com/museum/disclaim2.html</a>
Rights
false
Context:
Increasingly inspired by natural forms, the potters, silversmiths, and lacquer makers of Song China frequently created beautiful functional objects in the shapes of living things. This representational trend is most impressive in the amazing silver workmade by Zhu Bishan in the fourteenth century. Exemplified by this remarkable cup, Zhu's sculpting interests frequently obscured the functional purpose of his pieces. This cup, in the form of a unfettered figure sitting in a hollow log, can be filled through a hole in its upturned tip, and emptied at the softly rolled lip in front of the man. Confronted with every sip, this individual is identified by inscriptions on the bottom of the cup and on the tablet in his right hand as a traveler who began a transcendental trip in a raft on a river but ended up in the Milky Way. The legend offered a powerful image of escape and release that would have been popular among the educated members of the Chinese cultural aristocracy who were in large part barred from finding employment in the traditional civil service by the Mongol rulers of the Yuan. Zhu Bishan, creator of the cup, may have understood the poignancy of the theme only too well. Unlike most silversmiths of the time who simply marked their products with thename of their workshop, Zhu signed his cups with his literary nickname, Huayu, suggesting that he was not an ordinary artisan but a literate member of the gentry dislocated by the political, social, and economic upheaval of the time. Born in Weitang, Zhejiang Province, Zhu eventually moved to the prosperous cultural and commercial center of Suzhou in neighboring Jiangsu, where he studied silversmithing before opening his own shop in Mudu, a thriving art and craft center just outside the city on the routetoscenic Lake Tai. The location ensured him a steady stream of customers. In fact, one early source states that his works were all the rage at the time. His clients must have included rich, well-educated gentlemen who would have appreciated the historical and literary subjects that inspired his singular creations. Strangely, few of his silvers survive. Only two others, both formerly in the imperial collection of China's Qing dynasty emperor Qianlong (ruled 1736-96), are known. K.W.
cxd
Increasingly inspired by natural forms, the potters, silversmiths, and lacquer makers of Song China frequently created beautiful functional objects in the shapes of living things. This representational trend is most impressive in the amazing silver workmade by Zhu Bishan in the fourteenth century. Exemplified by this remarkable cup, Zhu's sculpting interests frequently obscured the functional purpose of his pieces. This cup, in the form of a unfettered figure sitting in a hollow log, can be filled through a hole in its upturned tip, and emptied at the softly rolled lip in front of the man. Confronted with every sip, this individual is identified by inscriptions on the bottom of the cup and on the tablet in his right hand as a traveler who began a transcendental trip in a raft on a river but ended up in the Milky Way. The legend offered a powerful image of escape and release that would have been popular among the educated members of the Chinese cultural aristocracy who were in large part barred from finding employment in the traditional civil service by the Mongol rulers of the Yuan. Zhu Bishan, creator of the cup, may have understood the poignancy of the theme only too well. Unlike most silversmiths of the time who simply marked their products with thename of their workshop, Zhu signed his cups with his literary nickname, Huayu, suggesting that he was not an ordinary artisan but a literate member of the gentry dislocated by the political, social, and economic upheaval of the time. Born in Weitang, Zhejiang Province, Zhu eventually moved to the prosperous cultural and commercial center of Suzhou in neighboring Jiangsu, where he studied silversmithing before opening his own shop in Mudu, a thriving art and craft center just outside the city on the routetoscenic Lake Tai. The location ensured him a steady stream of customers. In fact, one early source states that his works were all the rage at the time. His clients must have included rich, well-educated gentlemen who would have appreciated the historical and literary subjects that inspired his singular creations. Strangely, few of his silvers survive. Only two others, both formerly in the imperial collection of China's Qing dynasty emperor Qianlong (ruled 1736-96), are known. K.W.
Context
false
Related Image Identifier Link:
CMA_.1977.7.tif
ril
CMA_.1977.7.tif
Related Image Identifier Link
false