Vase with landscape and poem

The lyrical landscape painting on this vase epitomizes a period of dramatic innovation in porcelain decoration. For much of the seventeenth century, the best ceramics made at Jingdezhen, China's "porcelain capital," located in Jiangxi Province, were produced for the literati class, who, in a situation without parallel, replaced the court as the major patrons of high-quality porcelains. Imperial commissions ceased in 1620 with the death of the Wanli emperor and the imminent decline of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). They did not resume until 1683, when the imperial kilns recommenced operation in the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). During this long interregnum, the literati asserted a preference for more lively and painterly styles of porcelain decoration than the emperors favored. The scene that wraps around the Sackler's vase like an unrolled handscroll represents the new taste. When rotated, the vase reveals a combination of painting, poetry, and calling-raphy-the so-called Three Perfection-whose unity in a single composition was regarded as the highest ideal in literati art.
Label copy: (adapted from essay in Beyond the Legacy 1998)