Table with Floral Scroll Design, 14th century

  • Korean

Lacquer inlaid with mother of pearl and twisted wire on wood

  • Overall: 5 1/2 × 19 3/4 × 11 inches (14 × 50.2 × 27.9 cm)

Founders Society Purchase with funds from the Friends of Asian Art, John V. and Annette Balian, and Mr. and Mrs. Stanford C. Stoddard; gifts of Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence P. Fisher, Dr. and Mrs. Leo S. Figiel and Dr. and Mrs. Steven J. Figiel, by exchange

1993.17

Scholars were collectors of art and arbiters of taste. Small tables were used as trays and pedestals for useful objects. Floral scrolls are an enduring theme on Korean lacquer work. Koryŏ lacquers are noted for their impressive floral designs executed in inlaid wire and mother-of-pearl.

1993-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

Korean Works of Art (sales catalogue). New York: Sotheby's, December 2, 1992, no. 36. High Tea: Glorious Manifestations East and West. Exh. cat., Norton Museum of Art. West Palm Beach, FL, 2014, p. 140.

Korean, Table with Floral Scroll Design, 14th century, lacquer inlaid with mother of pearl and twisted wire on wood. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase with funds from the Friends of Asian Art, John V. and Annette Balian, et al., 1993.17.