Beaker-shaped jar with lid

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.

Historical period(s)
Qing dynasty, Kangxi reign, 1662-1722
Medium
Porcelain with cobalt pigment under clear colorless glaze
Style
Jingdezhen ware
Dimensions
H x Diam (assembled): 32.7 × 13.8 cm (12 7/8 × 5 7/16 in)
Geography
China, Jiangxi province, Jingdezhen
Credit Line
Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Henry Kumm in memory of Florence Mabel Beale
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1982.15a-c
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Jar

Keywords
China, cobalt pigment, flower, Jingdezhen ware, Kangxi reign (1662 - 1722), lotus, peony, porcelain, Qing dynasty (1644 - 1911)
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.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Mr. and Mrs. Henry Kumm
Florence Mabel Beale

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.

Marking(s)

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.

Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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