Collection Online as of September 26, 2023

Pair of Hexagonal Flower Pots

1300s–1400s

Part of a set. See all set records

China, Henan province, Yuxian, Juntai, Ming dynasty

(1368-1644)

Porcelaneous stoneware, numbered Jun ware

Overall: 12.5 x 15 cm (4 15/16 x 5 7/8 in.); Part 2: 13.4 x 14 cm (5 1/4 x 5 1/2 in.)

Bequest of John L. Severance 1942.661

Location

238 Chinese Ceramics

Description

This deep hexagonal flowerpot, one of a pair in the collection, is numbered "8" and bears additional inscriptions to indicate specifically the location of its usage within the palace: "for use in the Study of Illumination (Mingchuang yong)" within the "Hall of Cultivating the Mind (Yangxin Dian)" of the Forbidden City. The inscriptions seem to suggest the Qing imperial provenance of this pair.

Inscriptions

Inscription

八

Inscription Translation

Inscription

明窓用

Inscription Translation

For use in the Study of Illumination (Mingchuang yong)

Inscription

養心殿

Inscription Translation

Hall of Cultivating the Mind (Yangxin Dian)

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

John Long Severance Art Collection Photographs: Old Chinese Porcelains, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. Mentioned: p. 31; Reproduced: p. 33 archive.org

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. 138-139; Mention: p. 66, cat. no. 138-139 archive.org

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

Kerr, Rose. Dazzling Official Jun Wares: From Museums and Collections Around the World. [Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK] : ACC Art Books, 2021. Reproduced: P. 107, no. 68

Exhibition history

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