Vase

Vase: ovoid, low spreading foot, narrow neck with flaring lip. Polychrome.
Clay: fine-grained, hard, pure white.
Glaze: high-fired, very pale cafe au lait.
Decoration: yangcai decoration, with elaborate ornamental bands and all-over floral patterns in “famille rose” enamels, gold, and iron red over the glaze.
Six character mark of the Qianlong period in gold seal characters under the base.

Historical period(s)
Qing dynasty, Qianlong era mark and period, 1736-1795
Medium
Porcelain with lead-silicate enamels over transparent pale-brown glaze
Style
Jingdezhen ware
Dimensions
H x W: 20.3 x 9.6 cm (8 x 3 3/4 in)
Geography
China, Jiangxi province, Jingdezhen
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1945.2
On View Location
Freer Gallery 13: Looking Out, Looking In: Art in Late Imperial China
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Vase

Keywords
China, flower, Jingdezhen ware, lotus, porcelain, Qianlong reign (1736 - 1796), Qing dynasty (1644 - 1911), yangcai
Provenance

To 1945
Tonying and Company, Inc., New York to 1945

From 1945
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Tonying and Company, Inc., New York in 1945 [1]

Notes:

[1] Undated folder sheet note. For additional information, see Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List file, Collections Management Office.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Tonying and Company established 1902

Description

Vase: ovoid, low spreading foot, narrow neck with flaring lip. Polychrome.
Clay: fine-grained, hard, pure white.
Glaze: high-fired, very pale cafe au lait.
Decoration: yangcai decoration, with elaborate ornamental bands and all-over floral patterns in "famille rose" enamels, gold, and iron red over the glaze.
Six character mark of the Qianlong period in gold seal characters under the base.

Marking(s)

1. (From original folder sheet note 2) (H.C. Lovell, 1975) The ovoid vase has a tall neck with an everted mouth, and a splayed foot. The decoration consists of a stylized lotus design with foliage and tendrils, disposed over the entire surface of the vase, ju-i lappets around the shoulder and the foot, and criss-cross and pendent bead work on the neck. The design is rendered in an array of colored enamels including green, blue, yellow, red, pink and white, as well as gold, over the cafe-au-lait glaze. A six-character mark reading Ta Ch'ing Ch'ien-lung nien-chih is written in gold over the glaze.

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