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Vase with Plum Tree and Swallows
(China )
This baluster shaped vase of white porcelain is painted in underglaze cobalt blue. A flowering plum tree emerging from the jagged rockery covers the body. The plum blossom is emblematic of the return of life in the spring following winter. Two swallows symbolic of fidelity and love are depicted as well. Outline and wash technique is utilized to provide a variety of shades of blue and textures to distinguish rough rock from soft petal. The vase of elegant shape curves inward beneath high shoulders and has an everted foot. A raised ring runs through the center of the wide neck, which flares slightly at the rounded lip.
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
William T. or Henry Walters Collection, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; by bequest to Walters Art Museum, 1931.
Geographies
China (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 10 7/16 in. (26.5 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by William T. or Henry Walters
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
49.2287