GILDING THE LILY / CORN SOUP, 2024

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1. Ceramics
2. Corn Soup
3. Flora
4. Behind the scenes

1. Ceramics

Censer/Tureen
Body made in Jingdezhen, China, about 1700
Cover made in Vienna, Austria, about 1735
Made of Hard-Paste Porcelain
H. 5.375”, Diam. 8.75” (body)
H. 3.75”, Diam. 9.25” (cover)
Museum purchase with funds provided by W. Groke Mickey, 2014.7.1ab

Figure
China, 1690–1720
Made of Hard-Paste Porcelain
H. 9”, Diam. 3.5”
Mr. and Mrs. Euchlin D. Reeves Collection in memory of Mrs. Chester Green Reeves and Miss Lizzie H. Dyer, R1967.1.484

Alongside the censer, Gilding the Lily also features a blanc-de-chine figurine of the goddess Guanyin, the Chinese Buddhism goddess of mercy and compassion. Blanc-de-chine—literally 'white from China'—porcelain was made in the city of Dehua along China's southeast coast and was hugely popular in export in the 18th century. Guanyin figures were originally created for domestic markets but became sought after by Western European and American collectors due to religious connotations and similarities to the Virgin Mary. The white figurines were sometimes gilded after they arrived in Europe, as you can see with the flecks of gold that remain on this particular statue.

2. Corn Soup

Maize (colloquially ‘corn’ in the United States) was first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico. Spanish and Portuguese colonialists were said to have brought corn to China via the Philippines in the mid-1500s (though some recent research suggests that it had arrived in China before this time).

Corn soup became popular in Taiwan in the late 1900s when American manufacturers began pushing U.S. imports in Asia after World War II by running promotions for recipes using their canned goods. This still life features the artist’s mother’s family’s corn soup recipe, and one of the first dishes she learned to cook growing up. The basic recipe is made with 2 cans of corn, and everything else in the recipe is measured with those two cans. Each matriach of the family has their own version: the artist’s mother’s was vegetarian but with slices of American cheese, her aunt’s had chicken stock, and over the years, she has made hers with a rotating melange of mix-ins, including fresh corn, grilled onions, blue cheese, and crab.

The basic recipe is below.

1 can whole kernel yellow corn

1 can creamed corn

32 fl oz water or chicken stock (=2 cans)

2 slices American cheese

2 eggs

1 heaping Tbspn cornstarch

salt and white pepper, to taste

Add kernel corn and creamed corn into a soup pot. Using the two cans, add water or chicken stock. Add 2 slices of American cheese. Bring to a boil with lid on. Meanwhile, whisk 2 eggs in one of the cans. In the other can, combine the cornstarch with a little bit of the boiling soup and mix well to make a slurry. Once the soup has come to a boil, remove the lid. While stirring with a wooden spoon, slowly drizzle in the eggs. Then, stir in the cornstarch slurry until dissolved. Bring back to a boil and let boil for at least 1 minute uncovered after adding the cornstarch. Salt and white pepper to taste.

3. Flora

Asiatic lilies are from central and East Asian species, while oriental hybrids are crossbred with Japanese-native species. Lily flowers and bulbs have a history of culinary and medicinal uses in China. They symbolize “harmonious union” in Chinese art because its name, 百合 (bǎi hé), combines the characters for “hundred” (百) and “togetherness” (合).