Chinese Art 21


principles were founded on a revivified Confucianism. Under their guidance, the Song emerged a time of immense scientific and artistic achievement, which was paralleled by a vigorous spirit of intellectual inquiry. Te first compendiums on the natural history of fragrances and their origins were compiled, and at least 12 versions of Treatise on Perfumes and Aromatic Substances proliferated. Tese circumstances made incense


an indispensable part of Song literati life. Te burning of fragrances called xiangdao, ‘the way of the scent’, was believed to nourish the spirit as well as the mind. Blended incense surfaced as an aid and companion to reading, contemplation and meditation as corroborated by the 13th-century connoisseur Zhao Xigu: ‘When a clean table by a bright window is set in order, seals and incense are laid out’. Xiangdao inspired the making of


new scholarly accoutrements in utilitarian ceramic forms. Te luping san shi, ‘three objects of incense’ – boxes, vases and bottles – were products of the Song kilns renowned for the superb quality of both ‘imperial’ and ‘popular’ wares. Among the finest products requisitioned for the court was northern celadon known as Yaozhou ware from Shaanxi. It was adapted on a small incense box to reflect literati taste, bearing a surface decoration of carved floral peony designs.


Te literati culture of the Song was sustained by the succeeding Mongol Yuan dynasty (1279-1368). One of the ‘four great masters of the Yuan’, the outstanding landscapist Ni Zan (1301-1374), was an eminent fan of incense. He often painted in his studio,


the ‘chamber of


surrounded by the aroma of incense and the finest incense accoutrements. Great works of Song and Yuan painting are very rare, and it is not known if Ni Zan was a subject of portraiture during his lifetime. He was subsequently captured by the Ming professional artist, Qiu Ying (fl 1500-1550) seated on a day bed with incense burner and accoutrements on a side table, flanked by two attendants.


By the Ming (1368-1644), the


culture of incense had been demystified and was permeating almost all aspects of Chinese social life. Fully integrated into the material culture of the elite, it was a marker of social status. While principally associated with literary activities, it was no longer confined to the study or the home, but was taking place in the open, in pavilions and gardens. An anonymous artist has illustrated some 18 scholars indulging in this most cultivated of past-times. His painting


shows a boy attendant


preparing incense on a censer standing on a table. Behind him one scholar is playing the guqin, Chinese ‘zither’


surrounded by various


companions practising calligraphy, playing chess and other musical instruments.


Te Ming was the first indigenously Chinese dynasty following Mongol rule. In 1369 – a year after its founding – the imperial kiln was built in Jingdezhen,


Jiangxi dedicated to


producing special court porcelains. Standards for connoisseurship had been set, giving rise to high-grade incense creations.


Jingdezhen had


been synonymous with Yuan blue and white porcelain. Ming blue and white objects such as a Jiajing (r 1522-1566) incense burner was modelled after a traditional bronze prototype. Characterised by a straight mouth, round drum belly, flaring circular foot and two elephant tusk handles; its surface decoration of blue


scrolling tendrils and vine leaves housed an auspicious phoenix. Te remarkable maritime voyages of Ming China had been securing valuable returns in the interim. Around the 17th century,


its


commercial success led to new material prosperity and a market for commodities developed. Te world of goods made conspicuous consumption a part of late Ming life where the place of things, their ranking, classification and connoisseurship was cause for concern. In the Zunsheng Bajian,


‘Eight Discourses on the Art of Living’, the writer Gao Lian (fl.17th century) alluded to ‘Te pure enjoyment of cultured idleness including art collecting and connoisseurship’. However, the role of incense


received added emphasis from the scholar and ‘arbiter of taste’, Wen Zhenheng (1585-1645),


great-


grandson of famous Ming painter Wen Zhengming (1479-1559). In a cultivated Ming home, Wen said in the Zhang wu zhi, ‘Treatise of Superfluous 1620):


Tings’ ‘Burners should be


continuously alight to provide warmth even when incense is not being burned; only thus do you have a tasteful intent, yi gu’. Te choice of incense burner was also to be seasonally appropriate, with bronze and silver valued over gold. Incense and its various attributes


purity’,


were already natural to Ming domestic life. A permanent fixture on home altars was the wu gong, ‘five offerings’; a burner supported on either side by two vases and two candlesticks. Perfumes and aromatics were regular components in cosmetics. At home, fragrance was used on the body, and in the bath; powdered varieties scenting


appeared apparel


in and sachets for bedclothes.


‘Censing baskets’ enabled court ladies to be profusely scented. Te painting, A Lady Perfuming Her Sleeves by the artist, Chen Hongshou (1598-1652) portrays the subject leaning over a gauze-like basket to have her sleeves and garment scented and humidified by incense fumes.


thought to have physiological effects in


medicine;


moxibustion. purification


it was


Incense was used


rites employed in


Fumigating and toxic


incense substances for reasons of hygiene.


Te Ming was overthrown by the


Manchu rulers of Qing China (1644- 1911). Heirs to a cultural tradition that was not their own, they embarked on a distinct ideology to legitimise their regime of conquest. One significant avenue was their patronage of the arts; it was aimed at creating a cultural renaissance that would perpetuate their rule. Te Manchus were avid devotees of


Tibetan Buddhism who deeply venerated the culture of incense. Perfumes were considered a reserve of capital and acquired special importance in the imperial system. Rare agarwood for instance was much valued, it attained the status of a state commodity and was stored within the precincts of the Forbidden City. Part of court etiquette required the symbolic burning of incense and a table of aromatics was habitually placed before the Son of Heaven. Te Manchus were partial to metalwork with ritual and ceremonial functions. Tey reinvented the boshan xianglu, its Qing version heavily embellished with gold inlay. Te enormous demand for Qing


period incense burners and furniture was met by the expanded palace workshops of the Imperial Household Agency in the Forbidden City. Objects tailored to individual emperor’s specifications, appeared in


Hiroshi Yanagi_March2018_ver01.indd 1 22/01/2018 10:32 MARCH 2018 ASIAN ART


porcelain, cloisonné, silver, copper and horn, among others. During


Kangxi reign (1662-1722) special limited editions surfaced.


the An


(circa 1615-


exquisite sancai ‘three colour’ incense censer of low temperature yellow, green and aubergine glaze is typical of Kangxi-period ceramics. Te hollow grid-like ceramic box allowed for easy dispersal of perfume and smoke. It


was designed with five decorative roundels of jade on two of its sides. Te late Qing dynasty was a time when the first samples of Chinese incense reached Europe. Te traveller and connoisseur Henri Cernuschi (1821-1896) who visited China and Japan in the early 1870s amassed some 4,000 objects of Asian art. Tey included some very early


incense burners. His collection was


subsequently bequeathed to the city of Paris and the Musée Cernuschi was founded in his honour in 1898.


• Fragrance from China: Incense Culture in Imperial China, from 9 March to 26 August, at the Musée Cernuschi, 7 Avenue Velasquez, Paris, cernuschi.paris.fr


Portrait of Ni Zan by Qiu Ying (fl 1500-1550), ink on paper, 36 x 270 cm, Ming dynasty, Shanghai Museum


Hiroshi Yanagi Oriental Art


exhibiting at Arader Galleries, 1016 Madison Avenue, Between 78th and 79th Street, 2nd Floor, NYC, NY 10075, tel 212 628 7625


SELECTIONS OF JAPANESE ART 15 to 24 March, 2018


A pair of Chinese lion and guardian dog Japan, Kamakura period (Dated 1315) (lion) 30 x 48,5 x 55,2 (height) cm (dog) 30 x 48,2 x 59,7 (height) cm


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