The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of May 3, 2024

Meiping Vase with carved Dragon Motif

Meiping Vase with carved Dragon Motif

1300s
(1279–1368)
Porcelain with pale bluish-white (qingbai; 青白) glaze and carved decoration
Overall: 27.6 x 16.5 cm (10 7/8 x 6 1/2 in.)
Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift 2020.189
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

In Chinese mythology, the dragon is believed to transport human souls to the heavens after death.

Description

A fierce coiling dragon chasing a pearl amid mist and clouds—a symbol of fertility and power—decorates this sturdy vase. Its shoulder is incised with a band of lotus flowers and the base features a border of lotus petals. Meiping, literally prunus vase, derives its name from being used to display a single floral spray, traditionally a branch of blossoming plum (or prunus), apricot, or cherry.
  • Edgar Worch [1880–1972], Berlin, Germany, and New York, NY
    Henry Trubner [1920–1999] family collection
    ?–April 2018
    (J.J. Lally & Co., New York, NY, sold to Mr. and Mrs. Joseph P. Keithley)
    April 2018–2020
    Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley, Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2020–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    Provenance Footnotes
    1 Edgar Worch's wife, Hedwig (Hedi) Schmiegslsky Worch [1892–1997], and Henry Trubner's mother, Gertrud (Tula) Schmiegslsky Taubner Buchwald [1895–?], were sisters.
  • Trubner, Henry. Chinese Ceramics from the Prehistoric Period Through Ch'ien Lung; A Loan Exhibition from Collections in America and Japan. March 14 to April 27, 1952. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum, 1952. Mentioned and Reproduced: no. 187, p. 83
    Salisbury, Tonya. The Role of Dragons in Chinese Culture. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2004. archive.org
  • Impressionism to Modernism: The Keithley Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 11, 2022-January 8, 2023).
    Chinese Ceramics from the Prehistoric Period Through Ch'ien Lung; A Loan Exhibition from Collections in America and Japan. Los Angeles, CA (March 14-April 27, 1952).
  • {{cite web|title=Meiping Vase with carved Dragon Motif|url=false|author=|year=1300s|access-date=03 May 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2020.189