Note: Piece 231
by Dr. Elana Herbert
Mr Tatlow, Sir, you have
outdone yourself, dipping
your toe in The Great Qing
collecting something less
ordinary. this time. eighteen
dragons delicately (considering
windshift) fly over fifty rocky
peaks. rulers of water, wind
mountains and rain across four
hemispheres, momentarily rest
the face, each to four square
doors of one shelf less cabinet.
inside the void, the scent of cloves hangs
heavy, reminiscent as a cliché, a cabinet
much less ordinary when its making
is considered, carved hongmu – sourwood
a tropical hardwood delight for
those who delight in tropics, dark
grained, luscious red creates its
depth, brings warmth. carved (possibly)
at the Canton Woodworking Workshopi
the good old CWW. what a reputation that
place had (I suspect) for parties, lavish
with fiery Baijiu, pickled vegetables, salty
oysters and surrendering thighs.
and dragons – Mr Tatlow – remember
those dragon kings who each
controlled four seas (if we accept
Lake Baikal as a sea) who created
seemingly endless prosperity
served alone the emperor
then departed gloriously as
a summer storm. flew south, landed
with such lightness (for carved
Hongmu) deftly on the edge
of an escarpment bathed in
light, volatile with eucalypt
infusions. here in this museum
corner, together, shedding
their skins with delight.
Biography: Piece 231
c. 1882 Guangxu period, late Qing Dynasty, Blackwood
From the reign of Emperor Guangxu (formerly ‘Zaitian’), nephew and adopted son of
Dowager Empress Cixi. Guangxu ascended the throne aged five and reigned during a
tumultuous period when Cixi (a former concubine) broke tradition to rule as his regent.
Cixi’s relentless control only ended in 1908, with her suspicious death, one day after
Guangxu’s own suspicious death, and announcement the throne would pass to Guangxu’s
three year old nephew.
Carved at the Canton Woodworking Workshop (CWW) by their pre-eminent woodcarver
(name lost), the cabinet once held a false bottom drawer. In this cleverly constructed
drawer, the woodcarver’s fourteen year old daughter, Mĕilì (Mĕilì de lóng zhuă (Beautiful
Dragon Claw)) was smuggled out of the palace, when the cabinet was returned to her
father at the CWW for repair of a purposefully damaged panel.
Mĕilì’ had fallen foul of Cixi, following Guangxu’s choice of Mĕilì as his principal
concubine, despite fused fingers on her right hand, an insignificant impediment, but one
which made it impossible for her to wear golden fingernail guards, a compulsory
adornment for concubines. Cixi, famous for her own long nail guards, had decreed that no
concubine was to be seen without them.
Rumour also had it that Cixi planned to permanently ‘remove’ Mĕilì, to ensure no royal
baby would ever be born with the aforementioned dragon claw feature, often considered a
mark of strong personal power.
- In Qing Dynasty, there was a woodworking workshop, even one specifically called Canton woodworking workshop, installed under the Workshops of the Imperial Household Department (內廷作坊). The talented carvers nevertheless devoted most of their time to ivory carving, with wood carving only as a side job.
Source: http://www.hanban.com/chinese-culture/chinese-art/chinese-wood-carving.html