The sculpture that looks like a piece of bacon and has ended up being a national icon in Taiwan
It has layers, it has pores, it has fat. The Meat -looking stone Not only cheats in sight: it makes art look like kitchen and make the kitchen into sculpture. Carved from jaspe veiledthis little piece of just six centimeters is one of the most visited works of the National Museum of the Palacio de Taipéi. And although it seems taken from a dish, it was actually born in full boom of the Qing dynasty.
The story dates back to a period of artistic splendor that coincided with the imperial domain of the Qing between the seventeenth and twentieth centuries. During that time, the imperial patronage promoted the Creation of thousands of pieces destined to decorate the halls of the court, many of them signed only with the seal of the workshop that produced them. Some had a propaganda intention, others were status symbols. And then there were those who, like this, gathered technique and tribute along with some humor.
The imperial bacon that eclipses more than 700,000 treasures
Sculpture reproduces exactly Dongpo -stylea traditional dish that was born during the Song dynasty, between the 10th and XIII centuries. As counted, the origin dates back to the poet and official Your Dongpowhich, after being assigned to Huangzhou, received a cargo of pork as gratitude for its hydraulic reforms. As he knew how to cook, he prepared a slow stew with Shaoxing wine and soy sauce to return the gesture. Hence the recipe and, centuries later, sculpture.
The Jaspe was chosen by its texture and its ability to Show different shades naturally. The ore veins were used to represent the alternation between lean meat and fat. The result was a compact work of just 5.7 centimeters high by 6.6 wide and 5.3 background, which simulates folds, pores and even golden skin by cooking. All this worked with precision that makes many visitors approach thinking that it is a preserved food.
Those who approach the museum in Taipéi usually queue to see it. Although the collection includes more than 700,000 objects from Beijing after the end of the Chinese civil war, this small piece has become one of the main claims. Is part of the trio known as the Three treasures of the museum, together with the Jadeíta col —A vegetables sculpted with its own insects – and the Mao Gong dinga bronze cauldron recorded with old inscriptions.
Among the reasons that explain their popularity is your realismbut also the ingenuity of having transformed a recipe into Three -dimensional art. As the conservative explained Chang Lithuan When referring to the stone carving technique, the process demanded a meticulous work that took advantage of the impurities of the mineral: “The artist incorporated the natural variations of the Jaspe, which went from the translucent white to the dark brown, to achieve a realistic image.”
No one knows what it was for, but everyone wants to see it
The authorship is Anonymousas with many pieces of the time, although it is known that it came out of one of the Imperial workshops. What adds more mystery is its original function, which has not been confirmed. It is thought that he could be part of the furniture of a private room, accompanied by desktop objects or calligraphy. What is clear is that it was destined to be Loosely observedappreciated not so much for its size, but by the details.
Some specialists have pointed out that the work works as an example of the Chinese taste for objects with double meaningswhere the visual is mixed with the symbolic and the literary. In this case, pork is not just food. It also refers to abundance, fortune and pleasure. In Chinese astrology, the pig represents prosperity. And there is even a state reserve of frozen meat to stabilize its price in the market.
The Bacon -shaped stone It is still exposed along with other imperial pieces, as if it were still part of an old court banquet. It is not alone, but it is the most look at. And although it seems only a curiosity carved in stone, which represents mixing history, crafts, politics and popular culture.
