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1.1.1.1.1: China

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    299417
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    China

    Characteristics: Known for porcelain, celadon, stoneware; blue and white porcelain.

    Periods: Tang Dynasty, Song Dynasty, Ming Dynasty.

    Locations: Jingdezhen ("Porcelain Capital" of China).

    ca. 2650–2350 BCE

    Jar (Hu)

    China

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    Bowl with “Hare’s Fur” Decoration

    China

    Title: Jar (Hu)

    Period: Neolithic, Majiayao culture, Banshan phase

    Date: ca. 2650–2350 BCE

    Culture: China

    Medium: Earthenware with painted decoration

    late 6th–early 7th century

    Bottle

    On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 204

    Produced during the flowering of ceramic traditions in north China in the sixth century, this elegant bottle illustrates the northern adoption, and adaptation, of the southern celadon tradition.

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    10th–11th century

    Bottle

    China

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    Named after a prefecture in Hebei Province in north China, Ding wares were made from the eighth to the thirteenth or fourteenth century, and were popular at the Northern Song (960–1127) court. The shape of this base, which most likely derives from a silver piece, is extraordinarily difficult to make because the neck is so long and slender.

    Bottle

    Period: Northern Song dynasty (960–1127)

    Date: 10th–11th century

    Culture: China

    Medium: Porcelain with ivory glaze (Ding ware)

     

    11th–12th century

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    12th Century

    Jar with Handles

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    Jar with Handles

    Period: late Northern Song (960–1127)–Jin (1115–1234) dynasty

    Culture: China

    Medium: Stoneware with applied white slip ribs and black glaze (Cizhou ware)

     

    14th century

    Bottle with abstract flowers and leaves

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    China

    Yuan dynasty (1271–1368)

    Date: 14th century

    Culture: China

    Medium: Stoneware painted in brown on white slip under transparent glaze (Cizhou ware)

    15th century

    Saucer with pomegranates and peaches

    China

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    Ming dynasty (1368–1644)

    Date: 15th century

    Culture: China

    Medium: Porcelain painted in underglaze cobalt blue (Jingdezhen ware)

    15th century

    mid-15th century

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    Jar with Winged Animals over Waves

    China

    The theme of winged animals, in this case a horse, an elephant, a mongoose, a fish, a rabbit, and two cervids, was most likely inspired by the extraordinary court-sponsored maritime expeditions of the early fifteenth century, in which a Chinese fleet, under the direction of Zheng He (1371–1433), reached the coast of Africa.

    Jar with Winged Animals over Waves

    Period: Ming dynasty (1368–1644)

    Date: mid-15th century

    Culture: China

    Medium: Porcelain with cobalt blue under a transparent glaze (Jingdezhen ware)

     

    Early 18th century

    Gourd-shaped vase with gourds on vines and bats

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    Beyond the appeal of its sinuous form and elegant blue-and-white decoration, this gourd-shaped vase would have been treasured for the layers of auspicious meaning encoded in its decoration. The image of gourds on vines is a rebus, or visual word puzzle, for “fortune and prosperity through ten thousand generations” (fulu wandai), while the combination of bats and gourds forms a second rebus for “good fortune and wealth” (fulu).

    Gourd-shaped vase with gourds on vines and bats

    Period: Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Kangxi period (1662–1722)

     

    Culture: China

    Medium: Porcelain painted in underglaze cobalt blue (Jingdezhen ware

    China

    early 18th century

    Plate with Dragon and Waves

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    China

    first half of the 18th century

    The chaos that marked the transition from the Ming to the Qing dynasty in the mid-seventeenth century spurred European demand for Japanese porcelains, which began to be exported in significant numbers. As production resumed in China, Chinese potters sometimes re-created the Japanese styles—characterized by the dense pattering on the rim—that the European markets desired.

    mid-18th century

    Cup with floral scrolls

    China

    On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 221

    The practice of using painted enamels and gilding to imitate the appearance of cloisonné began during the Qianlong reign, a period in which the imitative capacities of enamels were deployed to reproduce a variety of media. Such playful emulations were the result of technical mastery and experimentation, and were encouraged at the Qing imperial workshops.

    Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Qianlong mark and period (1736–95)

    Date: mid-18th century

    Culture: China

    Medium: Porcelain painted in overglaze polychrome enamels and gold (Jingdezhen ware)

    Mid-18th Century

    Vase with dragon amid clouds

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    China

    mid-18th century

    Qing dynasty (1644–1911)

    Date: mid-18th century

    Culture: China

    Medium: Porcelain with carved decoration under celadon glaze (Jingdezhen ware)


    1.1.1.1.1: China is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 1.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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