The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 22, 2024

Jar

Jar

1522–66

Did You Know?

The jar with brilliant cobalt blue decoration depicts the four seasons and stages in the life of a scholar-official.

Description

The jar is painted with vibrant underglaze cobalt blue depicting the four seasons and stages in the life of a scholar-official.

In the first scene, a scholar leaves his home in spring hoping to pass the civil service examinations in the city. In the autumn scene, he successfully returns on a horse, prepared for a career at court. The summer scene shows him as an aged man watching his offspring play along a lake. The winter scene depicts him writing while attendants offer him hot tea and break the ice for fresh water from the pond in the foreground.
  • Magrath Collection
    ?–1917
    Worcester R. Warner [1846–1929], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1917–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Stories From Storage. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 7-May 16, 2021).
    Japanese Screens from the Museum and Cleveland Collections. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 23-May 8, 1977).
    The Arts of China from The Cleveland Museum of Art. Mansfield Art Center, Mansfield, OH (February 27-April 10, 1983).
  • {{cite web|title=Jar|url=false|author=|year=1522–66|access-date=22 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1917.13