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Square Flower-Shaped Washer

Asian Art

On View: Asian Galleries, West, 2nd floor (China)
This small brush washer was used in a scholar’s studio. The blue-green color of the vessel was made to look like ancient ritual jades; the artistic reference was a political statement for Confucian scholars yearning for the golden ages of the Chinese past, during a time when the Mongols were ruling the country. Guan ware is notable for the crackled pattern created when the thick glaze and the dark clay body of the ceramic cool at different rates. The term guan means “official” and refers to the Confucian scholar-officials at the imperial court who ran the political bureaucracy and favored this type of ceramic.
MEDIUM Ceramic, glaze
  • Place Made: Southern, China
  • DATES 1271–1368
    DYNASTY Yuan-Ming Dynasty
    PERIOD Yuan to Ming Dynasty
    DIMENSIONS 1 1/2 × 3 1/2 × 3 in. (3.8 × 8.9 × 7.6 cm)  (show scale)
    COLLECTIONS Asian Art
    ACCESSION NUMBER 53.51
    CREDIT LINE Gift of Samuel P. Avery, by exchange
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Asian Galleries, West, 2nd floor (China)
    CAPTION Square Flower-Shaped Washer, 1271–1368. Ceramic, glaze, 1 1/2 × 3 1/2 × 3 in. (3.8 × 8.9 × 7.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Samuel P. Avery, by exchange, 53.51. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: , 53.51_PS11.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 53.51_PS11.jpg., 2017
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    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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     <em>Square Flower-Shaped Washer</em>, 1271–1368. Ceramic, glaze, 1 1/2 × 3 1/2 × 3 in. (3.8 × 8.9 × 7.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Samuel P. Avery, by exchange, 53.51. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: , 53.51_PS11.jpg)