Presentation Box
China
1736-95 (Ch'ing dynasty)
Tricolor lacquer
6 1/4 x 9 5/8 inches
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Augustus L. Searle 79.3.2

• According to Chinese legend, giant peaches grew in the Land of the Immortals. Peaches were, therefore, associated with good health, marriage, and long life.
• During the Ch'ing (ching) dynasty, luxury objects were often decorated with SYMBOLS and stories referring to prosperity and good fortune.
• The artist varied the colors and TEXTURES of the layers of LACQUER on this box to indicate depth.

Long, long ago a woman named Hsi Wang-mu (she wong-moo) ruled over the Land of the Immortals in the Kunlun (cun-lun) mountains. Her incredible mountain residence was renowned for its marble and jasper buildings, nine-storied tower, sparkling brooks, and especially for its beautiful gardens. In the Land of the Immortals, bountiful peach trees grew. One of the peach trees in Hsi Wang-mu's orchard blossomed only once every 3,000 years. Its luscious fruit took an additional 3,000 years to ripen. Anyone lucky enough to eat the magical fruit of this tree was granted immortality. When the peaches were harvested, Hsi Wang-mu held a huge celebration and feast at her home, at which her mortal visitors ate the precious peaches. She also invited the immortals to taste the fruit, since they, too, had to wait 6,000 years to enjoy this amazing delicacy.

Ch'ien Lung
The Ch'ing dynasty emperor Ch'ien Lung (CHEE-en lung), who reigned from 1736 to 1795, was a devoted art collector andpatron. He encouraged artists to produce many luxury objects, including fine lacquer presentation boxes, made as gifts for members of the court.

Lacquer
Asian lacquer comes from the sap of the lac tree. It is a thick, sticky substance rather like honey. Artists apply many thin layers of lacquer on wood objects, allowing each layer to harden for weeks before adding another. By applying layers in different colors, artists could then carve down through the layers to reveal various colors.

Symbols
Artists often decorated luxury objects with images and with symbols of prosperity and good fortune. Rather than tell stories literally (that would be too obvious) the Chinese used familiar symbols and images that recalled the story.

Besides evoking stories, symbols can reveal the intentions and views of Heaven. Such symbols often appeared in everyday contexts. A series of earthquakes meant that Heaven was displeased; an early blossoming or the appearance of a crane might herald the coming of good fortune. By using symbols such as the peach, artists recorded a general wish for other heavenly signs of impending happiness and long life.

Peaches
Peaches suggest many things in traditional Chinese culture. They were considered good medicine for everything from rheumatism to coughs. Children wore peach stones carved in the shapes of locks around their necks to keep them from harm. The peach is commonly associated with springtime, marriage, fertility, and long life.

Presentation Box
The superb craftsmanship, intricate composition, and elaborate detail of this lacquer presentation box are common features of the fine lacquer produced during the reign of emperor Ch'ien Lung. It was probably made as a gift for a member of the nobility or even for the emperor.

Symbols
This presentation box is covered with many symbols that wish its recipient good luck and happiness. On top is a large character meaning "spring," which was considered one of the most fruitful and pleasant seasons. The peach was another symbol for springtime. Below that is an elegant bowl filled with symbols of wealth - coins and rhinoceros horns. Illustrated on the sides are legends concerning immortality. The combination of signs of spring, wealth, children, and long life suggests that this presentation box was made as a wedding gift or a birthday present.

Description
The front of the box (see detail) shows the legend of Hsi Wang-mu's giant peach trees in the Land of the Immortals. The land is a beautiful paradise of lofty mountains, cool wavy seas, and lush vegetation. On the left, a peach tree grows out of the side of a cliff; the immense peaches dwarf the tree itself. Luckily for the immortals, the branches hang low enough that the peaches can be picked.

Two young boys and a wrinkled old man pick the luscious fruit. The old man is the god of longevity. His staff bears the character shou (show), meaning "long life." Standing on a ledge, one boy picks the peaches and hands them to the god of longevity, who cradles them in a long cloth. Behind the old man, the other child picks off the leaves and places the peaches in a basket.

Although the scene looks natural, it is carefully and decoratively composed. The figures stand on ground that is made up of a PATTERN of squares and small flowers. The waves are reduced to a repetitive weave of diagonal lines.

The artist, in a typical Chinese fashion, has created a sense of depth by tilting up the ground plane, so that more distant forms are set higher in the composition. The stream winds upward into the distance. PERSPECTIVE shifts within the scene so that one can simultaneously look up at the mountains and down on the heads of the figures.

The artist also used color and texture to distinguish between FOREGROUND and BACKGROUND forms. The black areas, deeply carved, form the water and the sky. Closer, the landscape forms a red backdrop for the figures and peaches, which, though also red, are carved from an even shallower layer of lacquer.

Look
1. This presentation box is covered with many SYMBOLS that wish the box's owner good luck and happiness. Find the Chinese character on the cover of the box. The character means "spring," a fruitful and pleasant season. Find the bowl below the character. The bowl is filled with symbols of wealth. What are they? (Coins and rhinoceros horns.)

2. Tell the story of Hsi Wang-mu and the peach tree. Show the detail image (21a). What parts of the story do you see in this panel on the presentation box? (Gardens of Hsi Wang-mu, peach tree on the left.) Who is picking the peaches? (A boy.) Who is helping? (An old man and another boy.) Do you see Hsi Wang-mu in this panel? (No.)

3. The artist who carved this box applied many layers of different colors of LACQUER on the wood box. After they dried he was able to carve through the layers to reveal the various colors. How many different colors did he use when he painted the box with lacquer? (Two - black and red.) What color did he paint on first? (Black.) How can you tell? (Black is the bottom layer.) FOREGROUND in a work of art is the area closest to the viewer. BACKGROUND is the area farthest away from the viewer. How did the artist use color to distinguish between foreground and background in this carving? (Black makes up the background - the black areas are farthest away. Red makes up the foreground - red landscape and figures are closer to the viewer, literally on top of the black background.)

4. Where do you see PATTERN in the picture of the Land of the Immortals? (Black water and sky. Red ground that the figures stand on, and leaves on trees to the right.) Where else do you see pattern on the box? (Black and red border on outside edges, orange background on either side of the picture of the Land of the Immortals.) What kinds of tools would the artist need to carve these patterns? (Small sharp blades, such as razor blades or X-Acto knives, to achieve tiny details.)

5. PERSPECTIVE shifts within Chinese landscapes, so the viewer can see different parts of the landscape from different POINTS OF VIEW. Find an example of this traditional shifting perspective in the presentation box. What part of the landscape is shown from below? (The mountains.) What part of the landscape is shown from above? (Part of the ground where the figures stand. The figures are also shown from above.)

2. The old man in the scene from Hsi Wang-mu's gardens carries a staff that bears the character shou, for long life, and identifies him as the god of longevity. Why might the god of longevity be in the gardens with the magic peach tree? (Whoever ate the fruit of the magic peach tree would live forever.) Other symbols that cover this presentation box stand for spring, wealth, and children. On what occasion do you think this box was given? (Although we can't know for sure, the symbols suggest that it may have been a wedding or birthday gift.)

3. Peaches suggest many things in Chinese culture, among them springtime, marriage, fertility, and long life. By depicting SYMBOLS such as a peach, the artist recorded a wish for the recipient of the gift to have happiness and a long life. Can you think of a fruit that we typically associate with good health? (Apple.) Have you heard a proverb about the benefits of the apple? (An apple a day keeps the doctor away.) Can you think of occasions in which apples have taken on symbolic meanings? (Eve accepted an apple from the evil serpent in the Garden of Eden. Apples are a traditional gift for teachers. An apple demonstrated gravity for Newton. Johnny Appleseed is an American folk hero who traveled the country spreading apple seeds.)

4. Shifting perspectives within one composition is typical of Chinese perspective. (See LOOK 5.) Is it possible to have different POINTS OF VIEW while standing in one place? Could you see an object on the floor of your classroom, an object on top of your school desk, and a light fixture on the ceiling while standing in one place? (Yes, by shifting your gaze, moving your head.) Is it possible to consider one idea from different points of view?