Gourd-Shaped Vase

Currently not on view

Gourd-Shaped Vase

Around 1700-25

Artist/maker unknown, Chinese

Chinese potters delighted in making vases in the form of double and triple gourds, although such shapes were difficult to execute. On this vase the luminous powder blue ground sets off fan and quatrefoil-shaped "canvases." The largest of these, along the bottom of the vase, depicts a variety of scholars' implements from the so-called "Hundred Antiques": antique bronzes, bound scrolls, and an incense burner, together with stacks of books, brushes, and inkstones. The vase features gilded bronze (ormolu) mounts at the top and base, a style popular with European collectors in the eighteenth century.

Currently not on view

Object Details

Title:

Gourd-Shaped Vase

Date:

Around 1700-25

Artist:

Artist/maker unknown, Chinese

Medium:

Porcelain with powder blue ground, enamel, and gilt decoration; gilded bronze mounts

Dimensions:

12 x 4 7/8 inches (30.5 x 12.4 cm)

Classification:

Containers

Credit Line:

The Alfred and Margaret Caspary Memorial Gift, 1955

Accession Number:

1955-50-240

Geography:

Made in China, Asia

Context:

Dynasty: Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) Period: Kangxi Period (1662-1722)

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Currently not on view