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Sep 19, 2005

Prunus Vase (Meiping) with Blossoming Lotus

琺華蓮花紋梅瓶

late 1400s

China, Jiangxi province, Jingdezhen kilns, Ming dynasty

(1368-1644)

Porcelain with polychrome glazes, Fahua ware

Diameter: 19 cm (7 1/2 in.); Overall: 37.5 cm (14 3/4 in.)

Bequest of John L. Severance 1942.716

Location

not on view

Did you know?

The shoulders of the vase are decorated with ruyi-shaped clouds.

Description

According to 11th-century poet Zhou Dunyi, “all people like peonies, but I alone like the lotus because it emerges from the mud unstained.” The lotus is a symbol of purity and popular among Chinese literati and in Buddhism. This vase shows lotus flowers rising from the water’s surface depicted in elegant yet simple ripples.

Made in a kiln at Jingdezhen in southern China, this vase is an example of the fahua technique—decoration with raised outlines produced by squeezing clay from a tube onto the vase’s surface. Colors are applied to fill the outlines before firing.

Provenance

?-1942

John L. Severance [1863-1936], Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art

1942-

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

Catalogue of the John L. Severance Collection: Bequest of John L. Severance, 1936. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1942. Reproduced: p. [61], Plate XXX, cat. no. 147; Mention: p. 69, cat. no. 147 archive.org

Hollis, Howard C. “Department of Oriental Art: Chinese Ceramics and Jades.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 29, no. 9, 1942, pp. 150–157. Reproduced: p. 155 www.jstor.org

J. Mayuyama and H. Igaki, "Chinese Ceramics in the Collection of the CMA," Tosetsu 陶說, August 1956, no. 41, pp. 41-46. Reproduced

The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 869 archive.org

Mayuyama, Junkichi 繭山順吉. Chinese Ceramics in the West: Compendium of Chinese Ceramic Masterpieces in European and American Collection [欧米蒐蔵中国陶磁図錄]. Tokyo: Mayuyama & Co, 1960. Reproduced: pl. 85

Lee, Sherman E. A History of Far Eastern Art. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1964. Reproduced: p. 418, fig. no. 556

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 267 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 267 archive.org

Froncek, Thomas, and Hugh Honour. The Horizon Book of the Arts of China. New York: American Heritage Pub. Co, 1969. Reproduced: p. 261

Lion-Goldschmidt, Daisy. Ming Porcelain. London: Thames and Hudson, 1978. Reproduced: page facing 122, no. 97

Moore, Janet Gaylord. The Eastern Gate: An Invitation to the Arts of China and Japan. Cleveland: Collins, 1979. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 78 and p. 87

Neils, Jenifer. The World of Ceramics: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Museum in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1982. cat. no. 131

Gilbert, Rita, and William McCarter. Living with Art. New York: Knopf, 1988. Reproduced: fig. 576, p. 468

Brummett, Palmira Johnson. Civilization Past & Present. New York: Longman, 1999. Reproduced: p. 479

Exhibition history

The World of Ceramics: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 30-September 5, 1982).

Circa 1492: Art in the Age of Exploration. The National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (October 12, 1991-January 12, 1992).

Exhibition of the John L. Severance Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (November 12, 1942-March 14, 1943).

Mayling Soong Foundation 25th Anniversary Exhibition. Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley, MA (organizer) (April 16-June 4, 1967).

The Twain Shall Meet. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 30, 1985-January 5, 1986).

Flora and Fauna (Chinese art rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 6, 2020-June 6, 2021).

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=Prunus Vase (Meiping) with Blossoming Lotus|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1942.716|year=late 1400s|access-date=06 June 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Prunus Vase (Meiping) with Blossoming Lotus

Prunus Vase (Meiping) with Blossoming Lotus

琺華蓮花紋梅瓶

China, Jiangxi province, Jingdezhen kilns, Ming dynasty

Location

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