Jar, Guan – Unknown

UnknownEarly Ming Dynasty, 15th century

该作品的收藏者：

The Chinese invention of porcelain fueled not only domestic but also global demands, boosting China’s export trade to the West. During the Yuan dynasty (1279–1368), a significant development in the decoration of porcelain occurred at Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province, site of the later Ming imperial porcelain factories: Chinese potters, encouraged by Near Eastern traders, applied decoration utilizing cobalt oxide to achieve a rich underglaze blue, highly favored in the West.

The Art Museum’s jar belongs to a large group of Chinese blue-and-white porcelains manufactured for the Near Eastern trade. It was found in Damascus, Syria, a primary Western market for such wares. In the 1960s alone, more than 800 examples surfaced in the shops and stalls of cities such as Aleppo and Damascus, where they had survived in private hands since their export in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

In a fashion typical of such export wares, the painted decoration on the Art Museum’s jar combines elements of Western origin such as the scrolling vine (seen on the neck and body) with Chinese motifs such as tree peony blossoms. The delicate fruiting sprays of grapes, lychees, loquats, and pomegranates depicted on the shoulder are based on illustrations from Chinese pharmaceutical texts. The band of lotus blossoms within lappets – scale- or plaque-shaped designs – encircling the base of the jar is a rare decorative element.

作品介绍

• 标题: Jar, Guan
• 创作者: Unknown
• 创作日期: Early Ming Dynasty, 15th century
• 位置: China (Jiangxi province, Jingdezhen)
• 创作地点: Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province, China
• 实际尺寸: H. 8 1/4 in. (21 cm), Diam. 10 in. (25.4 cm)
• Credit Line: John J. Emery Endowment and George M. ToeWater Endowment
• Accession Number: 1987.147
• 类型: Ceramic
• 材质: Porcelain painted in underglaze blue; Qinghua ware

该作品收藏于：

Cincinnati Art Museum