Empresses of the Forbidden City: Final Blog: objects

This final blog on the Peabody-Essex Museum's "Empresses" exhibit is all about the decorative arts, and no country has done it better than China.
As witness...….
I hope you who have seen this exhibit on my blog, if you are in the Salem area, make haste to visit the museum.  A huge portion of the art is from the Chinese National Museum, and has never visited the US.

Seal of an empress with double-headed dragaon

Republican period, 1922

Top: Dish with incised dragons

Kangai period 1662-1722

Middle: Dish with dragons and clouds

Kangai period

Bottom: Dish with dragons and clouds

Kangai period

Lidded foliated box with phoenixes, peonies, cranes and clouds (detail)

Qianlong period, 1736-95

Almost all of the following is from this period.

Tray  with boys at play

Ewer with lady and boy in garden

Portable box of tableware with floral decoration

detail of above

detail of below

Lidded box with plants, flowers, fruits, vessels

and stone chime

Lidded peach-shaped box with landscape and

the characters for boundless longevity

detail of above

Lobed vase with flowers and poems

"Precious Treasures" display cabinet

Vajradhara

Stupa containing Empress Dowager Chongqing's hair

and Amitayus Buddha

detail of above

Four-armed Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvira

detail of above