Bottle

Small bottle, with six-lobed body and slender neck. Standing on a basal ring. Wood stand with inscription.
Clay: opaque, white porcelain.
Glaze: faintly bluish-white.
Decoration: painted in thin transparent enamels over glaze (tou ts’ai). Six-character reign mark under the foot.

Historical period(s)
Qing dynasty, Yongzheng reign, 1723-1735
Medium
Porcelain with cobalt pigment under colorless glaze and enamels over glaze (doucai format)
Style
Jingdezhen ware
Dimensions
H x W: 10.4 x 5.8 cm (4 1/8 x 2 5/16 in)
Geography
China, Jiangxi province, Jingdezhen
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1945.39a-c
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Bottle

Keywords
China, Jingdezhen ware, Qing dynasty (1644 - 1911), reign mark, Yongzheng reign (1723 - 1735)
Provenance

From 1941 to 1945
C. T. Loo & Company, New York, from September 1941[1]

From 1945
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from C. T. Loo & Company on November 29, 1945 [2]

Notes:

[1] See C. T. Loo's stock card no. JD-41/13 where the vase is inventoried together with F1945.40a-b: "Vase porcelain Yung Chêng. Pair of small porcelain vases, decoration "t'ou tsai" on white background; with motives of flowers, bamboos and pine, dragons et waves designs. Yung Chêng," C. T. Loo & Frank Caro Archive, Musée Guimet, Paris, copy in object file. The vase was brought to the Freer Gallery for examination on December 30, 1944.

[2] See C. T. Loo's invoice, dated November 29, 1945, copy in object file.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

C.T. Loo & Company 1914-1948

Description

Small bottle, with six-lobed body and slender neck. Standing on a basal ring. Wood stand with inscription.
Clay: opaque, white porcelain.
Glaze: faintly bluish-white.
Decoration: painted in thin transparent enamels over glaze (tou ts'ai). Six-character reign mark under the foot.

Inscription(s)

The bottle is accompanied by a carved rosewood stand on top of which the following inscription appears:

"yung cheng tou ts'zi sung chu mei p'ing hsueh an" [chn]. This inscription is carved in "li shu" [chn], or "official scrip" and may be rendered:

"Bottle of the Yung Cheng period with pine, bamboo and plum decorations in tou ts'ai [transparent enamels]. [Signed] Hsueh-an."

Marking(s)

The six character reign mark, enclosed in a double circle, reads "ta ch'ing yung cheng nien chih [chn]," "Made in the reign of the Yung Cheng Emperor" (1723-1735).

Label

The combination of sprigs of the fungus of immortality and narcissus, together with camellia, pine, peach, and flowering plum trees, means "may all your wishes come true in the New Year." Some of the dragons, symbols of imperial power, have a sprig of the magic fungus in their mouths to stress the wish for long life.

Published References
  • National Palace Museum, Taiwan. Enamelled Ware of the Ch'ing Dynasty. Porcelain of the National Palace Museum 2 vols., Hong Kong. vol. 1: pp. 72-73.
  • Oriental Ceramics: The World's Great Collections. 12 vols., Tokyo. vol. 10, pl. 126.
  • Robert L. Hobson. A Catalogue of Chinese Pottery and Porcelain in the Collection of Sir Percival David. London. pp. XXXVII, 166, pl. CLXV.
  • Masterpieces of Chinese and Japanese Art: Freer Gallery of Art handbook. Washington, 1976. p. 74.
  • Edwards Park. Treasures from the Smithsonian Institution., 1st ed. Washington and New York. p. 342.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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