Collection online
flask
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Object type
Museum number
PDF.662
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Description
Porcelain flask of flattened globular form, with wide long neck tapering in the middle. There is a three-clawed dragon in reserve against a background of waves in underglaze cobalt blue on the exterior, a wide band of scrolling lotus flowers on the neck, and scrolling lotus leaves below the mouth rim.
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Culture/period
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Date
- 1403-1424
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Production place
- Made in: Jingdezhen
- (Asia,China,Jiangxi (province),Jingdezhen)
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Materials
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Technique
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Dimensions
- Height: 446 millimetres
- Weight: 7.2 kilograms
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Curator's comments
Published PDF date : Ming early 15th centuryRoom 95 label text:
PDF 662
Flask with white dragons on blue waves
Both the Yongle (AD1403—24) and Xuande (AD1426—35) emperors sponsored important maritime trade and diplomatic missions to the Middle East. The form of this flask was not originally Chinese but was inspired by a Middle Eastern shape, possibly an enamelled glass vessel. During both the Yongle and Xuande emperors’ reigns, flasks in this large, heavy, bulbous form with variations to the decoration were made at the imperial kilns at Zhushan珠山 in Jingdezhen. Archaeologists unearthed a flask identical to this one with white dragons with incised details on blue waves, in 1994 at Dongmentou東門頭, Zhushan, Jingdezhen, from the Yongle strata. The imperial household probably used such flasks as wine decanters but also traded them as evidenced by similar flasks in the Topkapi Saray in Turkey and from the Ardabil Shrine in Iran.
Porcelain with incised and underglaze cobalt-blue decoration
Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province 江西省, 景德鎮
Ming dynasty, Yongle period, AD 1403–24 -
Bibliography
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Location
On display: G95/dc58
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Exhibition history
Exhibited:
2014 Sep-2015 Jan, BM WCEC, 'Ming: 50 years that changed China' -
Acquisition name
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Acquisition notes
R. L. Hobson, 1934 records: Cf. Zimmermann, Meisterwerke der Turkischen Musee zu Konstantinopel, Vol.2, Pl. 38.
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Department
Asia
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Registration number
PDF.662
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Object reference number: RRC38997
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