The people of the Ming Dynasty loved curios and antiques, and many of these objects inevitably found their way from palace collections into flower arrangements. This flower composition is representative of the literati style of the mid-Ming era. Its powerful lines de-emphasize the "S" configuration; and though the flowers and branches are loosely spaced, a delicate symmetry and balance is maintained.
The materials chosen for this composition impart a sense of fullness and abundance, very much in keeping with the style of the mid-Ming era. Accessories are numerous and varied, branches are somewhat shorter than the vase, and the leaf structure is spare and uncluttered, in harmony with the design on the porcelain vase.
ost New Year's day offertory flower arrangements were of the intellectual style. Intellectual flower compositions began to grow less profuse and more forceful as fewer flowers were used toward the latter part of the Ming Dynasty, and in that sense began to approach the stylized style. This composition belongs to this new category. To avoid overcrowding of the vase, some of the flowers and fruits essential to the composition have been spread out upon the table, without seriously diverging from the artist's intended design.
[preface] [
styles] [religious] [palace]
[literati] [folk]
[9 principles] [significance]
[prsveration] [vessels]
[appreciatin]
[Pavilion of Taiwan,
R.O.C] [Cultures]
[Council For Cultural
Affairs]