Jar with Lion-Head Handles | Cleveland Museum of Art

Jar with Lion-Head Handles

青花雙獅頭罐

1300s

China, Jiangxi province, Jingdezhen, Yuan dynasty

(1271-1368)

porcelain with underglaze painted decoration

Diameter of mouth: 15.6 cm (6 1/8 in.); Overall: 39.4 x 37.5 cm (15 1/2 x 14 3/4 in.)

John L. Severance Fund 1962.154

Location: 238 Chinese Ceramics

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Did You Know?

The characters for "palace" and "south" are scratched into the white glaze on the vessel's shoulder, suggesting that it was once kept in a specific location in a palace.

Description

Appreciated for its strong profile, brilliant blue color, and firm delineation of the decorative patterns, this jar is a classic example of Yuan dynasty blue-and-white ware. This type of ware was produced no later than the 1330s for both domestic use (the court and common people alike) and overseas trade. This example testifies to the transmission of artistic ideas and techniques between China and the rest of the great Mongol Empire as a result of trade. The cobalt that was used for the blue underglaze decoration was imported from Iran, likely from Kashan. The band of cloud-collar motifs with phoenixes set against floral grounds, as shown here, is an artistic vocabulary that can also be found in Iranian decorative arts of the Ilkhanid period (1256–1353).

Jar with Lion-Head Handles

Jar with Lion-Head Handles

1300s

China, Jiangxi province, Jingdezhen, Yuan dynasty (1271-1368)

See Also

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Jar with Lion-Head Handles - Chinese language version

Jar with Lion-Head Handles

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