This two-door cabinet appears to be two separate boxes held together by gilt-bronze handles but it is actually a single piece. Six side panels represent figures along a riverbank and on a garden terrace with hills receding in the distance. Deer adorn the tops of the two drawers. The sharp, precise carving of the red lacquer is characteristic of Qianlong workshops, as is the deeply carved background of brocade patterns.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
Artwork Details
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
清乾隆 剔紅山水人物紋漆箱
Title:Cabinet with figures in a landscape
Period:Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Qianlong period (1736–95)
Date:18th century
Culture:China
Medium:Carved red lacquer; gilt bronze fittings
Dimensions:H. 13 in. (33 cm); W. 7 7/8 in. (20 cm); L. 35.9 in. (35.9 cm)
Classification:Lacquer
Credit Line:Gift of Florence and Herbert Irving, 2015
Accession Number:2015.500.1.10a–e
[ Spink & Son Ltd. , London, until 1989; sold to Irving]; Florence and Herbert Irving , New York (1989–2015; donated to MMA)
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "East Asian Lacquer from the Florence and Herbert Irving Collection," November 22, 1991–February 23, 1992.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Irving Lacquers," 1998–2000.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Chinese Lacquer," July 18–November 14, 2005.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Chinese Lacquer: Painted and Carved," 2007.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Excellence and Elegance: Decorative Arts of the Eighteenth-Century Qing Court," August 25–November 25, 2007.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Chinese Lacquer: An Introduction," December 4, 2007–May 11, 2008.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Cinnabar: The Chinese Art of Carved Lacquer," August 6, 2009–February 21, 2010.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Extravagant Display: Chinese Art in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries," December 14, 2010–May 1, 2011.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Introduction to Chinese Lacquer," December 11, 2013–July 6, 2014.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Sumptuous: East Asian Lacquer, 14th–20th Century," October 25, 2014–August 9, 2015.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Chinese Lacquer: Treasures from the Irving Collection, 12th–18th Century," August 15, 2015–June 19, 2016.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Children to Immortals: Figural Representations in Chinese Art," August 9, 2018–January 3, 2021.
Watt, James C. Y., and Barbara Brennan Ford. East Asian Lacquer: The Florence and Herbert Irving Collection. Exh. cat. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1991, p. 113, cat. no. 47.
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world.
