Painted bowl

3rd century BCE

This bowl is a spectacular example of lacquer painting from the Chu state. A mythical bird and a beast appear beneath a flying banner attached to a stand; the scene repeats three times. The Chu state was notable for its lavish use of lacquer, which was believed to have magical qualities as an elixir of immortality. Lacquer is a remarkably resistant resin that is highly toxic before drying. The finest pieces required dozens of coats, so production was time-consuming, costly, and sometimes even deadly.

Wood with lacquer

10 x 2 7/16 in. (25.4 x 6.19 cm)

Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection

51.118

Now on view at the Asian Art Museum

Resources

Exhibition HistoryPortland, Oregon, Portland Art Museum, Gift to a City: Masterworks from the Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection in the Seattle Art Museum. Cat. no. 22, reproduced p. 8.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Boundless: Stories of Asian Art, Feb. 8, 2020 - ongoing.

Published References"Handbook, Seattle Art Museum: Selected Works from the Permanent Collections." Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1951, p. 48 (b&w)

"Chinese Art Recently Acquired by American Museums," in the Archives of the Chinese Art Society of America, Vol. 6 (1952), p. 64-72, illus no. 26.

Thomas, Edward B. "Oriental Art in the Seattle Art Museum," in Art in America, no. 1, 1965, illus. p. 60

Knight, Michael, "East Asian Lacquers in the Collection of the Seattle Art Museum." Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1992, no. 2, pp. 6-7

Neave, Dorinda; Lara Blanchard, and Marika Sardar, "Asian Art" My Search Lab books, 2015, p. 138. illus 6-19

Waugh, Daniel C. "The Arts of China in Seattle." The Silk Road, vol. 12 (2014): pp. 137-152, reproduced p.142, fig.16.

Li, Ling. Zi Dan Ku Bo Shu =: Chu Silk Manuscripts from Zidanku, Changsha, Hunan Province. , 2017, reproduced p. 44.

Ling, Li. The Chu Silk Manuscripts from Zidanku, Changsha (Hunan Province). Hong Kong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press, 2020; p. 56, reproduced fig. A.IV (9).4.

Foong, Ping, Xiaojin Wu, and Darielle Mason. "An Asian Art Museum Transformed." Orientations vol. 51, no. 3 (May/June 2020): pp. 49-50, reproduced fig. 6.

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

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