Large Thick Walled Vase
Brooklyn Museum photograph
Object Label
This large pale-blue celadon vase was made by the imperial workshop for the guan (official) class of Confucian scholar-officials. On the base of the vessel are both the seal and the six-character reign mark of the Qianlong Emperor. As a Manchu ruling Han Chinese, the Qianlong Emperor looked back to the great golden ages of Chinese history and utilized these artistic references as a political means to enhance his own legitimacy.
During the rule of this avid collector of antiquities, the shapes and decorative motifs of ancient bronzes served as models for many ceramic forms and designs. The fixed ring handles with animal-head masks on this vase refer back to earlier Shang and Zhou dynasty bronzes used in rituals to the ancestors, with the clay here stained black under the handles to recall those earlier bronze handles.
Caption
Large Thick Walled Vase, 1736–1795 C.E.. Porcelain, glaze, 21 15/16 x 15 3/8 in. (55.8 x 39 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the executors of the Estate of Colonel Michael Friedsam, 32.1244. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 32.1244_transp6048.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Title
Large Thick Walled Vase
Date
1736–1795 C.E.
Dynasty
Qing Dynasty
Period
Qianlong Period
Geography
Place made: China
Medium
Porcelain, glaze
Classification
Dimensions
21 15/16 x 15 3/8 in. (55.8 x 39 cm)
Markings
6-character Qianlong reign mark on base
Credit Line
Gift of the executors of the Estate of Colonel Michael Friedsam
Accession Number
32.1244
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
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Frequent Art Questions
The form of this vase looks timeless!
Great observation! You' will often see in Chinese pottery a harkening back to older vessel forms and motifs as a way to legitimize current rulers. This large pale blue celadon vase is a great example of that.The marks along the outside indicate that this vase dates to the rule of the Qianlong emperor. As a Manchu, an ethnic minority in China at the time, ruling Han Chinese, using archaic references such as the form and the celadon glaze, enhanced his own legitimacy as a ruler.The emperor's reign mark is actually on the base of this vessel. The animal head and fixed ring handles on either side refer back to earlier Shang and Zhou dynasty bronzes used in ancestor worship.Is there a reason these pieces are grouped together? Minus the two Qing vases, the other 4 Japanese ones seem super modern. Also, what influenced the other 4?
These pieces were placed together because they are all celadons, though as you have rightly pointed out, some are very modern and some are not. In the context of the exhibition "Infinite Blue," the celadon case is meant to highlight celadon works that are a light, clear blue, rather than the milky green generally associated with this type of ceramic.The grouping helps us to trace a path from Chinese celadons exported to the rest of Asia, to blue celadons prized and perfected by Japanese ceramicists, to the contemporary works that still aim for the same effect.
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