The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 20, 2024

Waterpot with Ram's Head Spout

Waterpot with Ram's Head Spout

1700s
(1644-1911)
white jade
Overall: 4.7 x 11.8 cm (1 7/8 x 4 5/8 in.)
Severance and Greta Millikin Collection 1964.238
Location: 240B Chinese Decorative Arts

Description

Pure white jade like this, known to the Chinese as "mutton-fat" jade, is particularly prized. The white color has been the preferred shade of jade throughout the ages. The radiance and purity are linked metaphorically to the virtues of the ideal Confucian scholar. The translucent quality of the jade has moral and poetic allusions attached to it.
  • ? before 1936
    John L. Severance [1863-1936], Cleveland, OH, by descent to Severance and Greta Millikin
    ?-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
  • Catalogue of the Severance and Greta Millikin Collection. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1990. Mentioned: cat. no. 205
  • The Severance and Greta Millikin Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 5-September 2, 1990).
  • {{cite web|title=Waterpot with Ram's Head Spout|url=false|author=|year=1700s|access-date=20 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1964.238