The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 15, 2024

Cup with Daoist Figures

Cup with Daoist Figures

1736–95
(1644–1911), Qianlong period (1736–95)
Pale greenish-white jade
Diameter of mouth: 10.3 cm (4 1/16 in.); Overall: 6.5 cm (2 9/16 in.); width with handles: 16 cm (6 5/16 in.)
Anonymous Gift 1952.510
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Two female immortals serve as handles, while a Daoist procession with immortals, musicians, and attendants winds around the body of the cup.

Description

The Cleveland cup and its counterpart from the imperial collection in the Beijing Palace Museum epitomize products of Suzhou jade masters in material, refinement, and polish. During the Qing dynasty, Suzhou’s best products were sent north to the capital. Those that met imperial approval were sometimes graced with Qianlong’s mark, added by calligraphers and jade workers at court. The lack of a Qianlong mark on the Cleveland cup suggests that it might not have reached the court, perhaps having found a collector among the merchant circles of the Suzhou-Jiangnan region, where its possession would have signaled its owners’ affluence, good taste, and knowledge of antique objects. Previously dated to the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), new scholarship dates this cup to the Qing period.
  • 1952–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Lee, Sherman E. “Chinese Carved Jades.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 41, no. 4 (April 1954): 67–71. Reproduced: p. 71 25141956
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 858 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 260 archive.org
    Lee, Sherman E., and Wai-kam Ho. Chinese Art Under the Mongols: The Yüan Dynasty, 1279-1368. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art; [distributed by the Press of Case Western Reserve University], 1968. Reproduced: pl. 298
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 260 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 344 archive.org
    Watt, James C. Y. Chinese Jades from Han to Chʻing. New York: Asia Society, in association with J. Weatherhill, 1980. cat. no. 131
    Oriental Art vol. 27, no. 1 (Spring 1981), pp. 104–107. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 106–107, fig. 9
    Guo li gu gong bo wu yuan [National Palace Museum = 國立故宮博物院]. Hai wai yi zhen, Yuqi. [海外遺珎, 玉噐 = Chinese art in overseas collections, jade.] Zhonghua min guo Taibei Shi Shilin qu: Guo li gu gong bo wu yuan, 1986. Mentioned and Reproduced: pl. 93
    Little, Stephen. Realm of the Immortals: Daoism in the Arts of China: the Cleveland Museum of Art, February 10-April 10, 1988. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1988. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 20, p. 47, p. 24, color plate 20
    Watt, James C. Y., and Maxwell K. Hearn. The World of Khubilai Khan: Chinese Art in the Yuan Dynasty. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2010. Mentioned and Reproduced: fig. 355, p. 298
    Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 104
    Liu, Yiwen 刘漪文. “人间天堂的别处想象：在克利夫兰艺术博物馆遥望中国江南” [Imagining Paradise Elsewhere: Gazing at China's Jiangnan from the Cleveland Museum of Art]. The Art Newspaper 艺术新闻中文版, November 2, 2023. Reproduced www.tanchinese.com
  • China's Southern Paradise: Treasures from the Lower Yangzi Delta. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 10, 2023-January 7, 2024).
    The World of Kubilai Khan: Chinese Art in the Yuan Dynasty. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (September 20, 2010-January 2, 2011).
    Realm of the Immortals: Daoism in the Arts of China. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 10-April 10, 1988).
    Chinese Jades from Han to Ch'ing. Asia House Gallery, New York, NY (October 9-December 7, 1980); The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (January 12-February 22, 1981); Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA (March 26-May 10, 1981); Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu, HI (July 17-September 13, 1981).
    Chinese Art Under the Mongols: The Yüan Dynasty (1279-1368). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (October 2-November 24, 1968); Asia House, New York, NY (January 16-March 2, 1969).
    Chinese Jade. The University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (November 30-February 3, 1963).
    Chinese Jade. University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (organizer) (November 30, 1962-February 3, 1963).
  • {{cite web|title=Cup with Daoist Figures|url=false|author=|year=1736–95|access-date=15 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1952.510