The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 9, 2023

Dish with Figures in a Chinese Garden

唐庭人物図皿

1700s

Japan, Edo period

(1615-1868)

Porcelain with underglaze blue and overglaze color enamel and gold, with iron oxide rim (Arita ware)

Height: 3.2 cm (1 1/4 in.); Diameter: 21 cm (8 1/4 in.)

Severance and Greta Millikin Collection 1964.257

Location

not on view

Description

This dish is inscribed with a poem from The Gateless Gate, a text compiled by Chinese Chan (Zen) master Wumen Huikai (1183–1260). The verse reads, “I always remember the spring in Jiangnan. Where the partridges sing; how fragrant the countless flowers!”

Inscriptions

Inscription

大明嘉靖年製

Inscription Translation

Apocryphal inscription in the footring reading "Da Ming Jiajing nianzhi" (Made in the Great Ming dynasty, Jiajing reign, 1522–66)

Inscription

長憶湖江南三月裏、鷓鴣啼処百花香

Inscription Translation

I always remember the spring (latter part of the third month) in Jiangnan. Where the partridges sing; how fragrant the countless flowers!

Inscription Remark

The poem is from The Gateless Gate (Wuwen kuan in Chinese and Mumonkan in Japanese), a text compiled by the Chinese Chan (Zen) master Wumen Huihai (1183–1260).

Provenance
?–1960
(Harry C. Nail, Jr. [1909–1990], Palo Alto, CA, sold to Severance and Greta Millikin)
1960–1964
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
Cleveland, Richard S. 200 Years of Japanese Porcelain; [Exhibition]. St. Louis: City Art Museum of St. Louis, 1970. Reproduced: p. 158, pl. 49
Catalogue of the Severance and Greta Millikin Collection. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1990. Mentioned: cat. no. 111, p. 80
Sŏn, Sŭng-hye. The Lure of Painted Poetry: Japanese and Korean Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2011. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 23, no. 12
Exhibition history

200 Years of Japanese Porcelain. Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO (organizer) (October 9-November 15, 1970); The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO (December 3-27, 1970).

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

The Lure of Painted Poetry: Cross-cultural Text and Image in Korean and Japanese Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 15-August 21, 2011).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1964.257