The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 14, 2025

White porcelain vase with a blue peony flower, widening to broad shoulders from a narrow base and then narrowing back in at the neck. The peony juts up in loose strokes from the base, the frilly flowers blooming at the widest part of the vase and blue three-pronged leaves sprouting from the stem and behind the flower.

Vase with Bird and Flower Design

late 1800s–early 1900s

Korea, Joseon dynasty

(1392–1910)
porcelain with underglaze blue
Outer diameter: 34.3 cm (13 1/2 in.); Overall: 49.4 cm (19 7/16 in.)
Gift of Yamanaka Shoji in memory of Jiro Yamanaka 1989.117
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Nineteenth-century Korean blue-and-white porcelains tend to feature broad shoulders and a tall neck.

Description

This vase with broad shoulders and a tall neck represents a typical style of 19th-century blue-and-white porcelain. Unlike earlier examples decorated mainly with literati themes that evoke neo-Confucian moral values—plum blossoms (purity), orchids (grace), bamboo (integrity), and chrysanthemums (loftiness)—porcelain works of the 1800s feature fully bloomed peonies and a pair of playful birds, symbols of wealth and familial harmony.
  • ?-1989
    (Tregoning Fine Art, Cleveland, OH, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1989-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Turner, Evan H. “The Year in Review: Selections 1989.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 77, no. 2 (February 1990): 38–78. Reproduced: p. 60; Mentioned: p. 78, no. 219 www.jstor.org
    Choi, Kyung-hwa, “Stylistic Features of 19th-Century Blue and White Ware as Seen in Dated Materials [편년자료를 통하여 본 19세기 청화백자의 양식적 특징].” Misulsahak yeongu (1996): 77-107. www.kci.go.kr
    Bang, Byungsun. "The Technology of Porcelain Manufacturing in the late Joseon Dynasty [朝鮮後期白磁의製作技術硏究]." Misul sahak yeongu (1997): 67 -104. www.dbpia.co.kr
    Jeon, Seung-chang. "Painted Images of Late Joseon-Period Porcelains and Their Connections with Folk Painting [조선후기 백자장식의 민화요소 고찰]." Misulsa yeongu (2002): 255-278. www.dbpia.co.kr
    Bang, Byungsun. "Park Jae-ka and Lee Hee-kyung's Views on Chosun Porcelain [楚亭 朴齊家ㆍ綸菴 李喜經의 도자 인식]." Misul sahak yeongu (2003): 213-234. www.dbpia.co.kr
    Kang, Kyeong-sook. History of Korean Ceramics [韓國陶磁史]. Seoul: Yekyong, 2012.
    Treasures from Korea: Arts and Culture of the Joseon Dynasty, 1392-1910. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2014.
    Choi, Kyung-hwa. “Observations on the Relation between Designs on White Porcelain and Folk Paintings of the Late Joseon Period [조선 후기 청화백자 문양과 민화와의 상관성 고찰].” Hanguk munhwa yeongu (2018): 151-18. www.kci.go.kr
    "Patterns and Decoration in the Joseon Dynasty." Asian Art Newspaper: Monthly for Collectors, Dealers, Museums and Galleries v.28: i.1 (November 2024). Reproduced asianartnewspaper.com
  • Pattern and Decoration in Royal Art of the Joseon Dynasty. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 9, 2024-March 16, 2025).
    Popular Art from Early Modern Korea. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 29, 2021-April 17, 2022).
    Ink, Paper, and Brush - Korean Gallery 236 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (July 24, 2019-January 26, 2020).
    Asian Autumn: Later Korean Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 22, 1992-January 3, 1993).
    The Year in Review for 1989. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 6-April 15, 1990).
  • {{cite web|title=Vase with Bird and Flower Design|url=false|author=|year=late 1800s–early 1900s|access-date=14 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1989.117