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Special Exhibition

A World in Flower: Floral Art by Literati and Master Craftsmen

In their infinite variety, flowers may be the most captivating things in Nature. In addition to attracting pollinators, their blooms brighten spaces and herald the arrival of a vibrant season. Subtle or bold, they have endured in art across the ages.

Artists do not simply reproduce nature's shapes, colors, and textures, but instead capture its vitality: turning petals, swaying stems, the essence of living growth. In his Huahui Ce (Album of Flowers) featured in this exhibition, Wen Zhengming observed that the ancients painted with both intention and spontaneity, giving their work a living quality that seemed to arise naturally when brush met paper.

The works assembled in this exhibition reveal how Ming and Qing artists approached the representation of nature. Notice their mastery of materials: the strength and tonal gradations of ink brushwork; the lustrous texture and translucency of jade; the depth of carving, whether rounded or angular, incised or sculpted. Through these means, they breathed life into inert materials, creating compositions of remarkable resonance that express personal feeling, fulfill practical functions, and embody effortless aesthetic grace.

Exhibition Information

Event Date 2026-03-05~2026-06-07
Location 3F S302

Traffic Info

Ming Dynasty

Wen Zhengming, Flowers

● Ink and color on paper
● Album
● National treasure

Wen Zhengming (1470–1559), one of the Four Masters of the Ming dynasty and a leading Wu School literati painter, excelled in poetry, calligraphy, and painting. His colophon records that he created this album in 1533 while summering with his friend Xu Jin (1479–1545), where he was inspired to paint rare and famous blooms.

The album emphasizes contrasts in brushwork, with variations in thickness and tonal intensity. Flowers are carefully outlined or rendered with ink mixed with color in elegant washes. Background elements are painted in the "boneless" style, without contour lines; dry brushstrokes convey surface texture while ink washes suggest volume. The vigorous brushwork captures floral vitality while creating visual interest through ink modulation—what Wen called the “living quality” of painting.

Qing Dynasty

Planter with Narcissus in Jade and Gold

This narcissus planter features a pale green jade basin with two clusters of narcissus and a bamboo sprig against a blue enamel ground.

The craftsman captured the narcissus with delicate precision: slender golden leaves arch gracefully as flower stems emerge from the foliage. White jade petals form blossoms fitted into tubular pale green jade calyxes, secured with gilt stamens and gold wire.

The translucent jade petals evoke the flower's ethereal elegance. Blooms in full flower, half-bloom, and bud are carefully arranged to create balanced clusters and spatial rhythm, conveying fresh vitality and refined tranquility.

Qing Dynasty

Jade flower holder in the shape of daylilies

This flower holder is carved from a single piece of jade with russet-yellow markings. The composition features two half-open daylily sprigs, together with a bud, a chrysanthemum, and slender leaves gathered to one side. A praying mantis perches amid the arrangement.

Daylily flowers are tubular, opening into six petals. The half-open blooms capture the flower's natural form while serving as a flower holder. Open petals curl outward at the tips, and the lustrous jade conveys a supple, fleshy texture. The craftsman has skillfully used the stone's russet tones for the bud, chrysanthemum, leaves, and mantis, giving the piece vitality and refined charm.

Late Ming Dynasty

Rhinoceros horn cup in the shape of a magnolia flower

This rhinoceros horn cup takes the form of a large magnolia blossom surrounded by high-relief carvings of smaller flowers and branches. Coiled stems form the base, with two branches serving as the handle.

The cup presents blooms in full flower, half-bloom, and bud, but no leaves—evoking early spring when magnolias bloom in succession. High-relief petals are full and fleshy, while branches stretch upward with vigorous energy.

Closer observation reveals a subtle design: beneath the naturalistic carved decoration, the cup itself is shaped as a magnolia blossom. These petals are carved shallower than the ornate outer relief and form an understated backdrop. This refined conceit adds compositional depth and an element of surprise to the work's naturalistic beauty.

Qing Dynasty

Inkstone with carved Banana Tree and Moon

This Duan stone inkstone features a banana tree carved on the right, with a round moon as the ink pool in the upper left. Inscriptions include “yan jiao” (cliff banana) and a “Xu Fu”seal on the trunk. The reverse bears a poetic inscription by calligrapher Huang Ren dated to a spring day in the jiawu year and stamped with his sobriquet “Shentian”.

The craftsman has used the round moon as an ink pool, pairing it with a banana tree and a wisp of cloud to create an ethereal scene. The banana leaves have received particular attention: they show natural horizontal splits, with various carving techniques conveying the prominent midrib and surface textures. The leaves fold and unfold in different directions, showing the tree's vitality. The light cloud in the upper left evokes an evening breeze, adding depth and movement to the composition.

Qianlong reign (1736-1795), Qing Dynasty

Copper lotus-leaf-shaped box in painted enamels

This enameled copper box mimics an irregular lotus leaf with finely rendered veining. A spray of lotus flowers, arrowhead plants, and slender leaves extends from the base to the lid, with blossoms and leaves raised in low relief. The white base bears a red “Made in the Qianlong reign” mark in regular script.

The lid composition flows gracefully: lotus flowers, arrowhead, and slender branches sway in various postures. One lotus has shed its petals, revealing the seedpod and stamens—a moment of dynamic, naturalistic beauty rather than perfect bloom.

Painted enamel on copper combines a malleable copper body with lustrous enamel pigments. Together, they make the central lotus full and abundant, with surrounding flowers and leaves bright and lifelike.