A candlestick is a humble thing asked to do cloakroom work for a palace. The Wanli workshop answered with this: a gardenia in bloom, petals and leaves rendered in cloisonne, holding a flame above a cloisonne base.
The flower is the point. Cloisonne normally favours scrolling repeats, but here a single gardenia is modelled in the round, its form read against the disciplined ground below. The contrast is the design.
Objects like this lit the Ming court’s evening rooms. They are small, but they show a workshop willing to bend a technique built for pattern into the shape of a living plant.
A gardenia that never wilts, holding a light that never goes out. The court liked its symbols to stay put.
Object details
| Name | Wanli-mark cloisonne gardenia candlestick (万历款掐丝珐琅栀子花纹蜡台) |
|---|---|
| Artefact no. | 故00116106 |
| Technique | Cloisonne enamel (掐丝珐琅) |
| Period | Ming dynasty, Wanli reign (1573-1620) |
| Collection | The Palace Museum, Beijing |
| Source | Palace Museum Digital Collection (数字文物库) |
Image © The Palace Museum. View the original in the Palace Museum collection.