Lobed box with farming scene/ Carved polychrome lacquerware

Lobed box with farming scene/ Carved polychrome lacquerware

• Image Number: K1H000410N000000000PAC
• Dynasty: Qing dynasty
• Category: Lacquer wares
• Function: Container
• Material: Plants/Paint/
• Description:
  Six petal box, the side of the box is decorated with landscapes, cranes and deer, and the opening room is decorated with eight treasures. The top of the box cover is also six petal type, decorated with a farming map. In the future, the farmland is full of water. A farmer wears a bamboo hat, rolls up his trousers and holds the “wheel threshing wheel” to urge the cattle to drag forward and level the land. The water buffalo walks and looks back. There is a zigzag canal behind the farmland, a shepherd boy riding a cow on the water bank, and a farmhouse under the shade of luxuriant trees on the other bank. A small bridge spans, and mountains are juxtaposed in the distance. This is a quiet picture of farmers living and working in peace. The composition of the picture refers to the practice of Lengmei’s “Farming and Weaving Atlas” in the Kangxi Dynasty. Paint boxes with different colors are removed to show patterns. The upper layer is dominated by red paint, representing people and mountains, the second layer of green paint runs through the river, and the bottom layer of yellow land is the distant sky. The workmanship is solid and the carving is regular. The ancient emperors’ personal farming was an important ceremony in sacrificing to the ancestors. The ritual system of the Qing Dynasty stipulated that the emperors would go to the Xiannong Altar to worship and then to the viewing platform for personal farming every year on the day of mid spring, to show their attention to land and agriculture.