The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-02-14
CHINESE BIRD CAGES
RARE WORKS OF ART
Interesting Exhibit Now on
View in Galleries of Amcri.
can Association.
FROM PRINCELY HOUSES

Several OF the senses are as.,,,od
at once In the exhibition Of the Yam.
naka porcelains and other Chimes. art
objects now on display in the gall.ries
Of the American Art Assoc alton ,o.
upon entering the rooms one see, AZ
| once the rare colors Of the porc,i...
smells the perfume OF many uov,..
| and hears a chorus of bird notes .ra.
feathered sonFstors that inhabt som.
Of the particularly gorgeous bird cage.
| that are unusual features OF this culler.
| ton
These bird cages strike many visitors
| with the force of revelation. and
indeed 1t is not many years since they
! first began to appear in our importa-
lions OF Oriental art. The total number
OF them now In this country IL no,
large. The first one appeared Al one
OF the auctions about four years ago
Last year In one OF the collections sold
by the American Art Association Their.
were seven OF these cages This wear
there are sixteen. but the Messrs Yam.
anaka had 10 search all through China
for them. Evidently they are not too
plentiful even there.
All of these sixteen bird cages ave
designed on the most luxurious and
costly scale. The cages themselves are
in black or dull red, decorated on the
lacquer. wherever there is room for
decoration. with amusing or symbols
scenes that doubtless convey special sig.
nincance to Chinese bird lovers. and
sometimes the bars are OF worry The
appurtenances OF the cages are made
OF the most precious materials the orr
entail designers could find
There In usually circular stand IN
aarh caue Of iyOry NJ IN r.,ad
The perohes are OF ivory. fashioned into
realistic tree branches The water re-
ceptacles are OF blue and white porce-
lain food box may be OF cloisonne
or even jade, and II OF jade II In beau
tifully carved. The long tongs with
which the particles Of food may he
manipulated are works of art, and each
cage has extra adornments OF carved
ivory or Jade that may have been
added in the hope OF interesting the
feathered prisoners. At any rate, they
interest human art lovers.
All OF these cages are suspended on
chains Of rare beads in which large
beads OF malachlte, Jade, rock crystal
or lapis-lazuli are artlstlcally combined
Several OF the cages have tall stand
ards OF wood carved with dragons
ferociously defending the birds and COW
cred with gilt.
Such elaborate painstaking and arts
tic arrangements for cages could only
have been thought OF by a people who
felt a special affection for birds. and the
compiler of the Yamanaka catalogue
confirms this opinion, with anecdotes
illustrating IT, II seems that Chinese
bird lovers take their spngsters to the
parks and public places for an airing,
much as Americans parade their dogs,
end enter tea houses with their charges
and drink their tea to the accompanI-
ment OF the singing of their birds
All OF the cages In this collection came
no doubt from prncely houses. one OF
the smallest cages. a squarish, ivory
barred Oh ien-lung affair, was doubtless
designed for some princely owner 70
transport his bird from palace TO gar
den so the captive might hear the sing
ing OF wiid Dirds, The floor uf dis pa
ticular cage, No. $50 in the catalogue,
is OF glass. The two zebra hnches that
reside in the cage at present are 70
placed In the gallery that they may peer
through the glass floor into green bowl
In which water lilies are growing and
goldfish are swimming