Compound vase

Object Details

• Description

  A compound vase formed of a central vase to which five similar forms are attached at the side walls, with inner communication. Wood stand. Monochrome-celadon.

  Clay: hard, white porcelain.

  Glaze: luminous pale green; unglazed white foot rims.

  Decoration: a vague design stamped in slight relief on the sides under glaze. Reign-mark in under-glaze blue on central foot.

• Marks

  Qianlong reign-mark in under-glaze blue on central foot.

• Label

  The remarkable shape of this vessel was created by joining separate mold-formed sections together. The floral decoration at the midsection and geometric patterns on the shoulder and foot were also mold formed. Vessels of this shape were made as tour-de-force showpieces, although they may have occasionally served as vases. Five-spouted ceramic vessels from the sixth century offer a distant prototype, but the shape of this vessel was a new creation by eighteenth-century potters. The celadon color imitates a green glaze made popular at the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279) kilns in Longquan, Zhejiang Province. Jingdezhen potters sought to reproduce the jade like quality of the early celadon ceramics, but the result was a paler and more translucent glaze than that of the prototypes.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Chinese Ceramics (March 15, 1982 to July 10, 1986)

  Chinese Ceramics (April 11, 1978 to September 4, 1980)

  Bicentennial Exhibition: Chinese Art (December 5, 1975 to November 10, 1976)

  Chinese Art (January 1, 1963 to March 6, 1981)

  Centennial Exhibition, Gallery 13 (November 10, 1955 to March 1, 1957)

  Special Exhibition, Chinese Art, 1946 (August 7, 1946 to January 7, 1947)

• Origin

  Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, China

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1790s, 1730s

• Place

  China, Jiangxi province, Jingdezhen

• Topic

  Porcelain, Art, Chinese Art, Qing dynasty (1644 - 1911), Ceramics, Flowers, Jingdezhen ware

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)