Artworks

Tray with dragon designs (Ryūkyū)

Artwork · Anonymous · 18th century · tray · Museum of Asian Art

An offering tray from the Ryūkyū islands, an independent kingdom until the daimyo of Satsuma captured its ruler in 1609, and a vassal of both the Tokugawa and the Qing: two dragons contend for a pearl in mother-of-pearl of the yakōgai, the “nocturnal light shell”, glistening from blue to purple against black. 1 Mason 2005, pp. 302–303, fig. 348. ↩ Literatur Mason 2005: Penelope E. Mason, History of Japanese Art, 2nd, Pearson Education LTD. 2005.