bottle

Please enable JavaScript in your web browser to get the best experience.

Object Type: bottle
Museum number: 1963,0520.6
Description: Four-sided porcelain bottle with underglaze blue decoration. This square-cross-section bottle has domed shoulders and a narrow cylindrical ridged neck with a flat unglazed base. Each side is painted with two fantastical creatures flying over stylized waves and assorted auspicious symbols including the Chinese character 'wan', meaning all-encompassing good. The shoulders are decorated with lotus and camellia reserved in white on a blue ground. Around the neck are two feathery scrollwork bands.
Cultures/periods: Ming dynasty; Wanli (probably)
Production date: 1590-1610 (circa)
Production place: Made in: Jingdezhen
Excavator/field collector: Field Collection by: Nicholas Marshall Cummins
Findspot: Found/Acquired: India
Materials: porcelain
Technique: glazed; underglazed
Dimensions: Height: 31.50 centimetres
$Inscriptions
Curator's comments: Harrison-Hall 2001: Minor loss of glaze to the edges of the bottle is typical of Wanli blue-and-white 'kraak'-type wares.
Bibliographic references: Harrison-Hall 2001 / Catalogue of Late Yuan and Ming Ceramics in the British Museum (11:11)
Location: Not on display
Subjects: animal; symbol; flower; lotus
Acquisition name: Purchased from: J Z Pelland
Funder name: Funded by: Brooke Sewell Bequest
Acquisition date: 1963
Department: Asia
Registration number: 1963,0520.6
Conservation: Treatment: 25 Feb 1997

Free entry