Pure Amusements - SAM - Seattle Art Museum

pure-amusements

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Ideal surroundings engaged the senses: fragrant tea brewing in teapots made in the Yixing region. Incense wafting from burners. Delicate wild orchids in celadon pots. Refined notes from the qin zither. The scholar’s studio especially warranted the best furnishings and accessories. This space for engaging in artistic pursuits honored the Confucian literati’s traditional inclination towards simplicity—or even austerity—as an aesthetic expression, but was often accented with decorative items of exquisite craftsmanship. However, luxury could not be acquired carelessly. Connoisseur handbooks defined principles of consumption to avoid the vulgarity of mere extravagance. Pleasure—believed to improve one’s health—was derived through a sense of play, and not taking one’s possessions too seriously.

Pure Amuseuments — *Pitong*, chinese, early 18th century, Bamboo and teak, 4 3/4 x 2 1/2 in. (12.1 x 6.4 cm.,) Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection, 56.109.

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