The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 18, 2024

Fluted Cup with Dragon Handle

Fluted Cup with Dragon Handle

early 1300s
(1271-1368)
Glazed porcelain, Qingbai (bluish-white) ware
Diameter: 9 cm (3 9/16 in.); Overall: 6 cm (2 3/8 in.)
Severance and Greta Millikin Collection 1964.163
Location: 238 Chinese Ceramics

Did You Know?

Clay beading divides the cup's interior into six foliate panels with a six-petaled flower at the junction of the beaded lines.

Description

Very thinly potted, the subtly lobed body of this cup is almost translucent. The thin, slightly opaque, light greenish glaze lends a sugary shine. Applied elements, including the handle, beaded borders, and sculptural floret, are constructed and glazed with the same materials as the body, providing a seamless blend of form and decorative embellishment. The result is an evocative reminder of slightly earlier silver cups, also created in the form of flowers. This pristine, natural construction is challenged, however, by the archaic dragon that acts as the handle. Borrowed from the decoration found on much earlier bronzes, this added form illustrates the eclecticism of the Yuan, the attempt to blend present vision with interest in the past.
  • before 1928
    Zhang Zuolin 張作霖 [1873–1928], Mukden [Shenyang], Manchuria
    Mr. L. A. Cone, NY
    ?–1959
    (Frank Caro [1904–1980], New York, NY, sold to Severance and Greta Millikin)
    1959–1964
    Severance A. [1895–1985] and Greta [Marguerite Steckerl] Millikin [1903–1989], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1964–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Lee, Sherman E., and Wai-kam Ho. Chinese Art Under the Mongols: The Yüan Dynasty, 1279-1368. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art; [distributed by the Press of Case Western Reserve University], 1968. no. 110
    Medley, Margaret. Yüan Porcelain and Stoneware. London: Faber, 1974. Mentioned and Reproduced: pl. 8b
    Catalogue of the Severance and Greta Millikin Collection. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1990. pp. 65–66, no. 20
    Cunningham, Michael R., Stanislaw J. Czuma, Anne E. Wardwell, and J. Keith Wilson. Masterworks of Asian Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1998. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 68–69
    Hopper, Robin. Functional Pottery: Form and Aesthetic in Pots of Purpose. Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2000. p. 120
    Watt, James C. Y., and Maxwell K. Hearn. The World of Khubilai Khan: Chinese Art in the Yuan Dynasty. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2010. Reproduced: fig. 308, p. 278
  • China through the Magnifying Glass: Masterpieces in Miniature and Detail. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 11, 2022-February 26, 2023).
    The World of Kubilai Khan: Chinese Art in the Yuan Dynasty. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (September 20, 2010-January 2, 2011).
    The Severance and Greta Millikin Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 5-September 2, 1990).
    Chinese Art Under the Mongols: The Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 2-November 24, 1968).
  • {{cite web|title=Fluted Cup with Dragon Handle|url=false|author=|year=early 1300s|access-date=18 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1964.163