Jingdezhen kilns
Vase with Bird-and-Flower Paintings and Poems
1699
Physical Qualities
Porcelain with powder-blue glaze and overglaze gold decoration, 17 15/16 H x 7 7/8 Diam. in. (45.6 x 20 cm.)
Credit Line
The George A. Lucas Collection, purchased with funds from the State of Maryland, Laurence and Stella Bendann Fund, and contributions from individuals, foundations, and corporations throughout the Baltimore community
Object Number
1996.47.23
The chrysanthemums and poems refer to Tao Yuan Ming, a famous 3rd century philosopher and recluse. Tao renounced a life at court in order to devote himself to the cultivation of chrysanthemums and the enjoyment of intoxication. The overall background design of chrysanthemums refers directly to Tao’s fondness for the flowers, which are emblems of the autumn and easy to visualize in the season’s bright sunshine.
One poem on the vase ties together the man, the flower motif, and the gold decoration:
Autumn leaves wind about the hut
like the house of Tao.
Everywhere, inside and around,
the sun’s rays gradually hit them.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by purchase, 1996 (on loan 1966-1996); Maryland Institute College of Art, by 1911; Henry Walters, by bequest, 1909; George A. Lucas, Paris
"Exhibition of Paintings, Bronzes and Porcelains from the George A. Lucas Art Collection," The Maryland Institute, Baltimore, 1911.
Sona Johnston, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "A View Toward Paris: The Lucas Collection of 19th-Century French Art," October 1, 2006 - December 31, 2006.
Sona Johnston, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "A View Toward Paris: The Lucas Collection of 19th-Century French Art," October 1, 2006 - December 31, 2006.
"Exhibition of Paintings, Bronzes and Porcelains from the George A. Lucas Art Collection," The Maryland Institute, Baltimore, 1911, no. 677, p. 107.
Frances Klapthor, Chinese Ceramics, Baltimore: BMA, 1993, no. 107, p. 57.
Inscribed: Poem incorporated in the gilt decoration, 'Autumn leaves wind about the hut like the house of Tao. Everywhere, inside and around, the sun's rays gradually hit them. Aside from these, I am partial to chrysanthemums. Among these flowers, still none have blossoms'
