Creative Commons License
Vase with a Scene from a Novel
(China )
The scene on this vase depicts a traveler kneeling to a martial, whose status is represented by the long pheasant plumes decorating his helmet and the two soldiers that accompany him. Behind the traveler is his boat moored at the river bank while the landscape includes rocks and wind-swept willow trees eclipsed by scrolling clouds. During the transitional period between the Ming and Qing dynasties, woodcut illustrations of popular novels often appear on ceramics. The private patrons of the time preferred these novel scenes over the imperial emblems that often adorned blue and white porcelain; thus, these patrons often sought out private kilns for this type of decoration.
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
William T. Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; inhereted by Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1894; by bequest to Walters Art Museum, 1931.
Exhibitions
| 1980-1981 | Masterpieces of Chinese Porcelain. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
Geographies
China (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 10 3/16 × Diam: 4 3/8 in. (25.9 × 11.1 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by William T. Walters, before 1894
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.
49.201