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Bottle

Bottle

  • Place of origin:

    Jingdezhen, China (made)

  • Date:

    ca. 1765-1795 (made)

  • Artist/Maker:

    Unknown (production)

  • Materials and Techniques:

    Porcelain, with copper red glaze

  • Credit Line:

    Marie Dumergue Bequest

  • Museum number:

    C.97-1912

  • Gallery location:

    On Display

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A Chinese scholar commissioned this vase. In an inscription on the base he declared that his thatched cottage was an agreeable dwelling place. While Chinese porcelains bearing reign period marks are common, objects with owner's marks, such as this piece, are much rarer.

Physical description

Flask of flattened bulbous shape, covered with a copper red glaze. The two handles on the shoulders are in the form of kui dragons. The neck was probably damaged at some later time and cut down, leaving a white rim. On the crackled white base is the mark Shigan Caotang (Thatched cottage by the brook) written in underglaze blue.
Shigan is one of the songs in Shijing, Xiaoya (Book of Songs: Lesser Odes Chapter), the first two lines reading:
The brook flows
The southern mountains deep.
The song is about building houses and the joy of home. By reference to this song the owner of the flask, whose identity is still to be revealed, was implying that his thatched cottage (not to be taken literally, it could have been a big mansion) was an agreeable dwelling place.

Place of Origin

Jingdezhen, China (made)

Date

ca. 1765-1795 (made)

Artist/maker

Unknown (production)

Materials and Techniques

Porcelain, with copper red glaze

Marks and inscriptions

On the crackled white base is the mark Shigan Caotang (Thatched cottage by the brook) written in underglaze blue.

Dimensions

Height: 31.5 cm, Width: 25.5 cm

Exhibition History

Rare Marks on Chinese Ceramics (19/11/1998-28/05/1999)

Categories

Containers; Ceramics; Vases

Collection code

EAS

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Qr_O22892
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