The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of September 22, 2023

Arrow Vase with Persian Inscriptions and Floral Scrolls

1506–21

China, Jiangxi province, Jingdezhen kilns, Ming dynasty (1368-1644), Zhengde mark and reign

(1505-1521)

Porcelain with underglaze cobalt blue decoration

Diameter: 10.7 cm (4 3/16 in.); Overall: 26 cm (10 1/4 in.)

Severance and Greta Millikin Collection 1964.170

Location

not on view

Description

Chinese potters in the 1500s integrated foreign motifs, shapes, and ideas in order to cater to changing tastes and new customers in an increasingly global world.

Inscriptions

Inscription

The two Persian inscriptions on the neck freely translated read 'Oh Beautiful! Oh Powerful'! Those around the body read 'None knows the extent and limits of Thy power and Majesty.'

Inscription

大明正德年製

Inscription Translation

Da Ming Zhengde nian zhi (Made in the Zhengde reign of the Ming dynasty)

Inscription Remark

six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle on the base

Provenance
February 17, 1959
(Sotheby's, London, England, February 17, 1959 sale, lot no. 42)
1959–64
Severance A. [1895–1985] and Greta [Marguerite Steckerl] Millikin [1903–1989], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
1964–
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Neils, Jenifer. The World of Ceramics: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: The Museum in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1982. cat. no. 130
Catalogue of the Severance and Greta Millikin Collection. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1990. cat. no. 29
Cunningham, Lawrence, and John J. Reich. Culture and Values: A Survey of the Humanities. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2006. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 527, fig. 19.8
Exhibition history

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

The Severance and Greta Millikin Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 5-September 2, 1990).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1964.170