COLLECTION NAME:
The AMICA Library
Record
AMICA ID:
CMA_.1964.163
AMICA Library Year:
1998
Object Type:
Decorative Arts and Utilitarian Objects
Creator Nationality:
Asian; Far East Asian; Chinese
Creator Dates/Places:
China
Creator Name-CRT:
China, Yuan Dynasty
Title:
Fluted Cup with Dragon Handle, Qingbai Ware
Title Type:
Primary
View:
Full View
Creation Date:
early 14th Century
Creation Start Date:
1300
Creation End Date:
1333
Materials and Techniques:
glazed porcelain
Classification Term:
Ceramic
Classification Term:
Ceramic
Dimensions:
Diameter: 9cm
AMICA Contributor:
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Owner Location:
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
ID Number:
1964.163
Credit Line:
Severance and Greta Millikin Collection
Context:
Porcelain is one of China's greatest contributions to the world's material culture. The ceramic is composed of two elements, kaolin (an English word based on the Chinese term Gaoling, literally "High Ridge," one of its primary locations in China)--a white-firing clay--and petuntse (an English word based on the Chinese term baidunzi, "little white bricks")--a feldspathic substance derived from granite that must be refined before use. Properly combined, the two produce a vitrified or glassy body when fired to about 1,200 degrees Celsius. Porcelains are usually coated with feldspathic glazes, which easily bond to the ceramic body in the heat of the kiln and provide an attractive, slightly bluish shiny surface. The earliest southern Chinese examples were probably being produced in Raozhou, Jiangxi Province, by the year 1000. In an effort to generate revenue through trade and taxation, the central government encouraged increased porcelain production at these independent kilns, thus contributing to the creation of large industrial-style facilities. By the fourteenth century, when this cup was made, fine porcelains were being manufactured in startling numbers at huge factories for the large national market as well as for export to Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia,India, and the Near East. This cup, created just before underglaze painting in blue and red came to dominate porcelain decoration, owes its aesthetic effect to other factors. Very thinly potted, the subtly lobed body is almost translucent. The thin, slightly opaque glaze lends a sugary shine. Applied elements, including 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. K.W.
Related Image Identifier Link:
CMA_.1964.163.tif
