The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Bird feeder

960–1279

China, Song dynasty

(960-1279)
Glazed reddish-brown stoneware, Guan ware
Diameter: 8.9 cm (3 1/2 in.); Overall: 3.5 cm (1 3/8 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Severance A. Millikin 1957.70
Location: Not on view

Description

Walking small birds in bamboo cages furnished with precious porcelain feeders is a traditional leisure time pursuit of elderly men in China.
  • ?–1957
    (Frank Caro [1904–1980], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1957–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Beurdeley, Michel. The Chinese Collector Through the Centuries, from the Han to the 20th Century. Rutland, VT: C.E. Tuttle Co, 1966. no. 1221, p. 247
    Kleinhenz, Henry J. “Porcelains for Imperial Use: The Sung Dynasty.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 65, no. 4 (April 1978): 135–150. Mentioned: p. 145; Reproduced: p. 148, fig. 14, a www.jstor.org
  • China through the Magnifying Glass: Masterpieces in Miniature and Detail. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 11, 2022-February 26, 2023).
  • {{cite web|title=Bird feeder|url=false|author=|year=960–1279|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1957.70