Vase (Meiping) with Waves China, Jiangxi province, Yonghezhen, Yuan dynasty (1271-1368)

Vase (Meiping) with Waves

吉州窯水波紋梅瓶

1200s–1300s

China, Jiangxi province, Yonghezhen, Yuan dynasty

(1271-1368)

glazed stoneware with slip painted decoration, Jizhou ware

Diameter: 16.7 cm (6 9/16 in.); Overall: 26.3 cm (10 3/8 in.)

Gifts of J. H. Wade and Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade; and purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund by exchange 1980.186

Location: 238 Chinese Ceramics

You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.

Did You Know?

When Jizhou ware is fired, the slip coating and the inlaid decoration assume a soft ivory color while the exposed clay body displays a warm cinnamon brown.

Description

Jizhou ware kilns in central Jiangxi province produced a dark ware in competition with other kilns in China and so Jizhou potters were highly inventive. Part of their work is a ware covered with a white slip over which they painted bold graphic designs of great visual effect. This striking wave design is remarkable in the way the painter transformed the entire surface of the vase into dynamically rolling masses of water, highlighted by cresting waves. Jizhou wares were excavated in cities of the lower Yangzi delta, including Nanjing, Shanghai, Changzhou, Taizhou, as well as Anhui province, Korea, and Japan.