Mother-of-pearl inlaid stem cup
A lacquer stem cup with a trumpet-shaped base and a shallow bowl with flared rim. The bowl is decorated with a continuing frieze all inlaid on a black lacquer ground in tiny fragments of iridescent mother-of-pearl, carefully chosen to reflect different colours. It depicts figures in a landscape setting with trees, rocks, other vegetation and a fence. The lower part of the bowl and the stem are decorated with scattered flowers. The interior of the bowl and the foot are lined in silvered metal.

Fig. 1 Mother-of-pearl stem cup, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
Soft-shell inlaying in lacquer originated in the Yuan dynasty (1260 – 1368) and reached its peak in the late Ming and early Qing dynasty.[1] The inlay on this charming stem cup is of the highest quality. A nearly identical mother-ofpearl inlaid stem cup of the same size and decorated with figures in a landscape but mirrored, possibly the pair to the present cup, is in the collection of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, where it is attributed to the 17th century (fig. 1).[2] Stem cups made in pairs can also be found in the tixi lacquer technique. Examples are in the collection of the British Museum, dated to the Ming dynasty.[3]
Provenance: a paper label on the base reads ‘Bluett & Sons, London’ (active 1884 – 1992), no. 10
- Yanli, B., Fine Lacquerware in the Healy Collection of Chinese Lacquer in Masterpieces of Chinese Lacquer from the Mike Healy Collection, Honolulu Academy of Arts, 2005, p. 21
- Impey, O.R. and Tregear, M., Oriental Lacquer, Chinese and Japanese Lacquer from the Ashmolean Collections, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1983, no. 7b and p. ix; also see Ashmolean museum online collection archive, accession number EA1967.181
- Chinese and Associated Lacquer from the Garner Collection, The British Museum, London, 1973, pl. 6-b, no. 13; also see The British Museum online collection archive, registration number: 1974,0226.6.1
黑漆嵌螺鈿山水人物圖高足杯
清 十七 – 十八世紀
徑:8.5 公分 高:7.7 公分
黑漆嵌螺鈿高足杯,杯身深腹撇口,下承倒喇叭狀高足,通體髹黑漆為地,以螺鈿鑲嵌紋飾,杯
內及平底包銀裏。杯面嵌文人雅集圖,後襯山石及流雲。英國牛津阿什莫林博物館藏有一件不論形
制、大小與紋樣高度均相似的黑漆嵌螺鈿高足杯,僅山水人物圖鏡像相對,原來可能為成對製作。
成對高足杯之例,可見大英博物館藏一對明代剔犀杯。
來源:底部貼有 “Bluett & Sons”標籤