Special Exhibition Review: Mother-of-Pearl

Have you ever really considered mother-of-pearl? Until recently, I tended to think "spoons," "buttons" and maybe a little "marquetry inlay" whenever "mother-of-pearl" flew across the cognitive radar. That all changed when I got interested in Asian art, and started looking at lacquerware literally paved with the pearl shell technique. Some of these objects are incredibly gorgeous, covered as they are with lustrous whites, bisques, pinks, greens and the palest of pale blues. Lacquerware and pearl shell technique artists in Southern and Eastern Asian cultures have been blessed with (1) many centuries' practice, (2) superiorly productive mollusks and (3) local lacquers that are the Real Deal, as opposed to feeble imitations. And it shows.

Stan Parchin recently visited Mother-of-Pearl: A Tradition of Asian Lacquer, on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art from December 2, 2006 through April 1, 2007, and came away feeling that it was, truly, a special exhibition. He enjoyed tranquil galleries and an array of precious, portable objects. Then, because he's so generous about these things, he went home and captured the whole of it in words and meticulously researched facts for us. If you would enjoy learning more about an Asian artistic tradition that dates from Bronze Age China's Shang Dynasty (ca. 1600-1050 B.C.), please give Mr. Parchin's review a read. Thank you, Stan!

Image credit:

Rectangular box with "Peach Blossom Grotto"
China, Yuan–early Ming Dynasty,
14th–early 15th century
Black lacquer with mother-of-pearl inlay
L. 13 in. (33 cm)
Friends of Asian Art Gifts, 2006
2006.181a, b
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York