Beaker-shaped jar with lid

Object Details

• Description

  Beaker-shaped jar with knobbed, slightly domed cover; three small chips on lid and several on overhang at base. Small crack on edge of cover may be a fire-crack.

  Clay: White porcelain, very fine and smooth.

  Glaze: clear, feldspathic; foot and bearing surfaces of cover and lip are unglazed.

  Decoration: Painted in vivid cobalt blue in outline and wash under the glaze; narrow band at lip with repeat lozenges and conventionalized diaper pattern within double lines. Body has two elongated vertical ogival panels containing some of familar motifs of the 100 antiques or po-ku (bronzes, vases, books, objects from the scholar's desk). Space between the panels is filled with naturalistic lotus plants above and peony branches below. Just above base, a band of conventionalized flower and scroll pattern between double lines. The cover has a bud-shaped petal-decorated knob within a double ring. An ogival panel of curvilinear shape contains the jewel and artemisia leaf symbols and the same scholar's desk items as the body. The margins are filled with prunus blossoms and there is a double ring at edge.

  Mark: On base in underglaze blue with double ring is one of the "eight precious things," a beribboned jewel with ribbons, often used as a mark on K'ang-hsi porcelain.

• Marks

  Mark: On base in underglaze blue with double ring is one of the "eight precious things," a beribboned jewel with ribbons, often used as a mark on K'ang-hsi porcelain.

• Provenance

  From late 19th century

  Florence Mabel Beale, acquired in China in the late 19th century [1]

  From 1948 to 1982

  Dr. and Mrs. Henry W. Kumm, Columbia, MD, by inheritance in 1948 [2]

  From 1982

  Freer Gallery of Art, given by Dr. and Mrs. Henry Kumm in 1982

  Notes:

  [1] According to Curatorial Note 5 in object record.

  [2] See note 1.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  The Peacock Room in Blue and White [2019-2022] (May 18, 2019 to June 1, 2022)

  Chinamania (2016) (July 9, 2016 to June 4, 2017)

  The Peacock Room (May 2, 1923 to February 21, 2011)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Florence Mabel Beale

  Mr. and Mrs. Henry Kumm

• Origin

  Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, China

• Credit Line

  Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Henry Kumm in memory of Florence Mabel Beale

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1720s, 1660s

• Name

  Beale, Florence Mabel, Kumm, Henry

• Place

  China, Jiangxi province, Jingdezhen

• Topic

  Cobalt pigment, Porcelain, Art, Peony, Kangxi reign (1662 - 1722), Chinese Art, Qing dynasty (1644 - 1911), Ceramics, Flowers, Jingdezhen ware, Lotus

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)