The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of June 10, 2023

Waterpot with Ram's Head Spout

1700s

China, Qing dynasty

(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.

Provenance
? 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
Citations
Catalogue of the Severance and Greta Millikin Collection. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1990. Mentioned: cat. no. 205
Exhibition history

The Severance and Greta Millikin Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 5-September 2, 1990).

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