Ming and Qing dynasty furniture ornamentation, rich and colorful, according to the theme can be divided into seven categories, this section is classified and introduced.
Ming and Qing dynasty furniture patterns are familiar to the folk people auspicious allegorical patterns, with auspicious language as the script, the single figure as the basic material, the use of harmonics, metaphors, analogies, borrowing and other methods, the combination of several single graphics into a pattern with a specific auspicious meaning. Artists can use this conventional method to easily compose a variety of auspicious allegorical ornaments, reaching the level of "the picture must be intentional, the meaning must be auspicious".
Although there are many auspicious ornaments and different patterns, only the five themes of fu, lu, shou, wealth and joy can be expressed on multiple levels in the same work.
Ming and Qing dynasty furniture ornamentation also has the role of identifying the age.
First, geometric patterns
Geometric pattern with round, curved and square folded lines composed of a single ornament, can constitute the edge and ground pattern, the common ornaments on furniture are brocade, swastika, back, ice crack, abductor, rope, curved ruler, ring and so on.
1. Cloud pattern
The cloud pattern, in ancient times, is a decoration representing the Emperor of Heaven. At that time, farming was the mainstay, agricultural production was all nourished by rain and dew, no cloud would have no rain, no rain would be valley without rain, so the primitive ancestors respected the clouds as if they were the Emperor of Heaven. After the worship of figurative gods became popular, the cloud pattern became a secondary pattern, with auspicious meanings such as respecting the heavens, ascending to the heavens, and ruyi, and there were four clouds, ruyi clouds, clouds, flowing clouds, cloud patterns, cloud thunder patterns, cloud water patterns, etc., often used with dragon patterns, bat patterns, eight immortal patterns, and eight treasure patterns.
Ruyi cloud pattern: it is a single cloud pattern, which can be arranged and used.
Hook pattern: Because a single cloud pattern resembles a hook with two ends rolled inward, the hook pattern is made up of several single clouds neatly arranged or interspersed with each other.
Cloud thunder pattern: it is a composite pattern composed of cloud pattern and thunder pattern, the cloud pattern is composed of soft swirling lines, and the thunder pattern is composed of square folded angle swirling lines. It is common in Shang and Zhou bronzes and jade, and this pattern is also commonly used in Ming and Qing mahogany furniture.
Four-in-one ruyi cloud pattern: four ruyi heads twisted together, with cloud tails above and below and left and right.
1831-1. Ruyi cloud pattern on the case
2. Echo
The pattern formed by centering on a point and encircling it outward with a square corner is named after the word "hui". Qing Dynasty furniture is decorated with back patterns on the four feet. Continuous echo is used as a rim decoration, called "back to the brocade", with a neat and uniform decorative effect.
3. Swastika pattern
A pattern consisting of the character "swastika".
Originally a spell from ancient times, the "swastika" symbolized the sun or fire, and later became a Buddhist symbol, meaning "auspicious collection", which is an auspicious omen with the meaning of auspiciousness, ten thousand blessings and long life. In the second year of the Tang Dynasty (693), Wu Zetian listed this symbol as a Chinese character, pronounced "wan". The "swastika" character has four ends that extend outwards, and can evolve into various brocade patterns, with the meaning of "long and continuous" and "long life and continuous head", also known as "longevity brocade".
1833 Huanghuali saves the swastika pattern fence Luohan bed
Made in the late Ming Dynasty, it is 206.5 cm long, 90 cm wide and 78.6 cm high. This bed is beautifully shaped and carefully made. The weizi uses the method of holding the short material to form the swastika pattern that prevailed in the Ming Dynasty.
4. Jomon pattern
Jomon refers to the shape of two strands of rope twisted, each strand of rope is made of two, three, four or even nine single strands twisted, mostly used for accessory patterns and utensils to circle the foot.
5. Saffiano pattern
The saffiano is a common pattern, which is made of small wood on the furniture, and can be found in the back of the frame, the bed wall of the shelf bed, etc.
6. Curved ruler pattern
Curved ruler-shaped pattern, made of small wood on the furniture, can be found in the bed fence of the Luohan bed, the bed fence of the shelf bed, and the middle brand of the basin frame.
7. Tapestry ring pattern
The pattern of two circular rings or diamond-shaped rings set together has the meaning of "concentric agreement", and is mostly decorated on the furniture tapestry or as the shape of a card flower.
1837 Huanghuali hanger of the tassel plate phoenix pattern through carving
8. Ice cracks
Also known as "ice pattern" and "ice grid pattern", it is a pattern of imitation ice cracks, which is made of small wooden strips on the furniture, and the body feels.
9. Eight-way code
Eight yards is commonly known, actually refers to the geometric pattern of lotus petals, divided into two types of lotus and lotus, most commonly arranged at the waist of the furniture. A complete corset is in the shape of a "worker" with concave and convex lines and eight yard lines.
Second, the grain of the utensils
The vessel pattern refers to the auspicious allegorical pattern composed of cultural play utensils, which are commonly known as Bogu pattern, ruyi pattern, vase pattern, ancient money pattern and so on.
1. Bogu pattern
During the Northern Song Dynasty (1107-1110), Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty ordered Wang Yi and others to compile and paint the ancient artifacts hidden in the Xuanhe Temple, named "Xuanhe Bogutu", counting thirty volumes. Later generations will be specialized in painting porcelain, copper, jade, stone and other ancient artifacts called "Bogu", some in the utensils at the mouth of the bottle to add flowers, fruits as embellishment. Although the Bogu pattern is based on utensils (ancient bottles, porcelain pots, Ding furnaces, calligraphy and paintings, and the four treasures of the study room), it is a symbol of the house of Bell Ming Ding Food, and some are also combined with auspicious words to become auspicious allegorical patterns. Bogu pattern is more used in Qing-style furniture.
1841-1. Rosewood relief Bogu pattern
2. Eight auspicious patterns
The auspicious decorative pattern composed of the conch, the wheel of law, the umbrella, the white lid, the lotus flower, the vase, the goldfish and the length of the plate is the "eight auspicious patterns", also known as the "eight treasures of the eight treasures" and "the eight treasures of the Buddha". The eight auspicious original patterns in Buddhist art have the meaning of driving away evil spirits and descending auspiciousness.
The eight auspicious patterns and the dark eight immortal patterns are both religious ornaments, initially only decorated with utensils from religious sites, with the continuous integration of Buddhist culture and Han culture, the eight auspicious patterns have gradually been adopted by the folk and become the auspicious ornaments that the folk like to use.
3. Eight ji pattern
Because the structure of the eight auspicious patterns is complex and it is not easy to make, some people use the long pattern of the plate to represent the eight auspicious patterns.
The long pattern of the disc is diamond-shaped, and it is knotted with a simulated rope, so it is called "pan length" or "pan intestine", which means that it has a long history. The disc long pattern ranks eighth among the eight auspicious patterns, so the disc long pattern is commonly known as "Eight Ji".
The Eight Ji pattern is widely used in the folk, and the "Eight Ji" pattern can be used in the architectural pane, the bridge head railing, and even the buttons and ornaments. Some of the Eight Ji patterns change the outer silhouette into a gourd shape, and some form a lace with the geometrically shaped seal character "Shou".
4. Fang Wins
Fang Sheng is a pattern of two diamond-shaped angles overlapping each other, which is said to be the hair ornament worn by the Queen Mother of the West, so the folk worship it as an auspicious thing that can ward off evil spirits. In the Chinese knot, Fang Shengyu has the auspicious meaning of "one heart and two combinations".
5. Dark Eight Immortal Pattern
The "Dark Eight Immortals" are auspicious ornaments composed of artifacts and auspicious clouds held by the eight immortals. Like the Eight Immortals, it has the meaning of blessing longevity and driving away evil spirits and ensuring peace. Because it is more convenient to produce, it is more widely used. The "Dark Eight Immortal Pattern" has a combination of eight and four sets. If you add water ripples to the blank space of the pattern, it constitutes the "Water Eight Immortals" pattern.
According to legend, Han Zhongli's banana fan can avoid strong winds and rain; Lü Dongbin's sword can ward off evil spirits; Han Xiangzi's flute can go downwind to find zhiyin; Lan Caihe's flower basket can spread through the gods; Li Tieqiu's treasure gourd can help sentient beings; Zhang Guolao's fish drum can understand the affairs of his life and death; Cao Guo's yin and yang plate can revive the dead; He Xiangu's lotus flower can cultivate self-cultivation and immortality.
845-1. Dark Eight Immortals - Banana Fan
845-2. Dark Eight Immortals - Sword
845-3. Dark Eight Immortals - Flute
845-4. Dark Eight Immortals - Lotus
845-5. Dark Eight Immortals - Gourd
845-6. Dark Eight Immortals Pattern - Flower Basket
845-7. Dark Eight Immortals - Fishing Drum
6. Miscellaneous eight treasure patterns
The Miscellaneous Eight Treasure Pattern is a combination of eight treasure patterns, which can be taken from Xiangyun, Ancient Money, Ruyi, Silver Ingot, Fang Sheng, Baozhu, Rhino horn, coral, Ganoderma lucidum, chimes, banana leaves, etc., symbolizing auspiciousness and longevity. It belongs to the folk god worship and has no specific religious significance.
7. Ancient money pattern
Ancient money pattern is the copper coin pattern, because ancient coins are mainly copper coins, so used to symbolize wealth, fortune, in the expression of auspicious language, generally use the "money" and "front" of the harmonic sound to express a specific auspicious language.
"Blessing in front of the eyes" pattern: a pattern composed of ancient money pattern and bat pattern.
"Joy in front of the eyes" pattern; pattern composed of ancient money and happy characters.
"Cash Cow" pattern: The pattern of ancient money hanging on the branches is a pattern that uses ancient money patterns to express wealth.
8. Ruyi pattern
Ruyi pattern refers to the pattern of ruyi or the pattern of ruyi tip. Ruyiyuan is an artifact used by ancient Indian monks, with a handle like a finger, copper, iron, wood, bamboo and other materials, with self-defense, command, note, itching and other uses. After the introduction of China at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the shape system changed, and the tip was ganoderma lucidum shaped, cloud head shaped or chicken heart shape, which became an auspicious artifact, mostly carved with gold, silver, copper, jade, stone, ivory and other precious materials, and became a treasure of the court and nobles. Ruyiduo and vases, halberds, rocks, peonies, persimmons and other patterns form auspicious patterns, implying "peace and ruyi", "auspicious celebrations", "rich and noble", "everything is as expected", etc.
1848-1. Four-in-one ruyi pattern formed by buckets
9. Jiqing has residual lines
It is a jade chime hanging on the halberd, and the figure of the Pisces hanging under the jade chime means auspicious celebration.
1849-1. Relief "Jiqing Youyu" on the door of the Qing Dynasty cabinet
About the author
Wang Lianqin is a famous art connoisseur and collector, and a nationally registered cultural relics and art appraiser. He has long been engaged in the collection and appreciation of woodware, porcelain and other works of art. In the past 30 years, he has worked hard in the art market and accumulated rich experience and appraisal knowledge in long-term practical combat. In particular, he is good at the identification of precious woods such as classical furniture, small-leaf rosewood rosewood, yellow pear, red rosewood, and agarwood. He also has unique insights in the identification of bamboo, wood, teeth, horns and porcelain. As a specially invited expert of major collection appraisal institutions, he has participated in more than 100 national public welfare treasure appraisal activities and has been well received by the majority of Tibetan friends.
He is currently the deputy secretary-general of the Classical Furniture Committee of the China Collectors Association, the director of the Cultural and Artistic Works Committee of the China Used Goods Association, the special researcher of the Academic Research Department of the China Collectors Association, and the specially invited expert member of the China Media Group Zhongyiyuan Art Appraisal Center.
Special wood appraisal expert of Beijing Television Financial Channel. Vice President of Zhongyi Tibetan Culture and Education; Executive Director of Zhongshi Jianzang (Beijing) Appraisal Center; Deputy Secretary-General of the Appraisal Committee of The Asian Agarwood Cultural Association; Classical Furniture Connoisseur invited by Jiangsu Television City Life Channel; Invited Expert Consultant of Co-shooting Online; Invited Expert of Yujian; Expert Member of the Mahogany Circulation Professional Committee of China Wood and Wood Products Circulation Association.