The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 20, 2025

Ewer with a Lion-shaped Spout

900s–1000s

China, Shaanxi province, Tongchuan, Huangbaozhen, Five Dynasties period

(907-960) or Northern Song dynasty (960-1126)
green-glazed porcelaneous stoneware with modeled, carved and incised decoration, Yaozhou ware
Overall: 18.3 cm (7 3/16 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1948.220
Location: 238 Chinese Ceramics

Description

This remarkable ewer is most likely a very early and rare type of Yaozhou ware, with the shape and decoration recalling Tang metal ware. High quality pieces like this might have been sent as tribute to the Northern Song court. Yaozhou ware, or northern celadon, appeared to have been made in the north in emulation of the southern Yue ware. But its green glaze has a deep olive-green tone, and potters fully exploited the contrasting tones of the glaze over the incised and carved decoration to create rich textural effects.
  • ?–1948
    (Dikran G. Kelekian [1867–1951], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1948–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Balazs, Étienne, Jacques Gernet, Marie-Roberte Guignard, and Max Kaltenmark. L’art de la Chine des Song. Paris: Musée Cernuschi, 1956.
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 842 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 256 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 256 archive.org
    Wirgin, Jan 韋俊. "Sung Ceramic Designs." The Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities Bulletin (BMFEA) no. 42 (1970), pp. 1–272. Mentioned: pp. 23 and 255, pl. 1f; Reproduced: pl. 1f
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 337 archive.org
    Wirgin, Jan. Sung Ceramic Designs. London: Han-shan Tang, 1979.
    Neils, Jenifer. The World of Ceramics: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Museum in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1982. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 100, no. 104
    Chinese ceramics: special exhibition 中国の陶磁: 特别展. Tōkyō: Tokyo National Museum 東京国立博物館, 平成 6 [1994].
    Hasebe, Gakuji. Sōji: shinpin to yobareta yakimono [Song ceramics = 宋磁 : 神品とよばれたやきもの]. [Tokyo?]: Asahi Shinbunsha, 1999. Reproduced: cat. no. 11
    Yabe Yoshiaki 矢部良明 and Imai Atsushi 今井敦. Masterpieces of Chinese Ceramics 中国の陶磁. Tōkyō: Kodansha 講談社, 2000. Reproduced: p. 32
    Rastelli, Sabrina. The Yaozhou Kilns: A Re-Evaluation. PhD dissertation SOAS, London, 2002. Reproduced: p. 404, fig. 4
    Shinsei Shaku シャク振西, Bun To 杜文, and Haruka Kitamura 北村永. Yōshū yōji : kanshō to kantei 耀州窯瓷 : 鑑賞と鑑定. Tōkyō: Nigensha 二玄社, 2004. Reproduced: p. 20, fig.32
  • Song Porcelain. Tobu Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan (March 6-April 13, 1999); Museum of Oriental Ceramics Osaka, Japan (April 25-June 13, 1999); Hagi Uragami Museum, Yamaguchi (June 20-August 15, 1999).
    Chinese Ceramics. Tokyo National Museum (organizer) (October 12-November 23, 1994).
    The World of Ceramics: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 20-August 22, 1982).
    La Chine des Sung, 960-1279. Musée Cernuschi, Paris, France (September 5-November 10, 1956).
    Selected Sung Ceramics. The Japan Ceramic Society, Tokyo, Japan (April 26-May 2, 1955).
    Chinese Ceramics. Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, California (March 14-April 22, 1952).
  • {{cite web|title=Ewer with a Lion-shaped Spout|url=false|author=|year=900s–1000s|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1948.220