20th Century Asian Art

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Lot 170
  • 170

A MOTHER-OF-PEARL INLAID LACQUER PLAQUE c.1970

Estimate
800 - 1,200 GBP
bidding is closed

Description

depicting a bus crossing the famous bridge at Yan'an, with the famous pagoda atop a hill in the background

Catalogue Note

This plaque was made at the No.1 State Lacquer Factory, Yangshou, in 1970. It was designed by Lu Xingtang and made by Li Duanhua.

Yan'an, a town in Shaanxi Province, became the headquarters of the Chinese Communist Party at the end of the 'Long March', in December 1936.   At the Yan'an Forum on Literature and Art in May 1942, Mao said that there was no such thing as art for art's sake but that it should reflect the views of the masses.  This set the tone for Communist Party thinking on art for the next 50 years.