1911.8: Moon Flask with Decoration of the Eight Buddhist Treasures (Babao) within Stylized Lotus Petals

Identification and Creation

Object Number

1911.8

Title

Moon Flask with Decoration of the Eight Buddhist Treasures (Babao) within Stylized Lotus Petals

Classification

Vessels

Work Type

vessel

Date

Qianlong period, 1736-1795

Places

Creation Place: East Asia, China, Jiangxi province, Jingdezhen

Period

Qing dynasty, 1644-1911

Culture

Chinese

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/310899

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Blue-and-white ware: porcelain with decoration in underglaze cobalt blue; with underglaze cobalt blue mark reading "Da Qing Qianlong nian zhi" in seal-script characters on the base

Technique

Blue-and-white ware

Dimensions

H. 49.6 x W. 36.0 x D. 22.2 cm (19 1/2 x 14 3/16 x 8 3/4 in.)

Inscriptions and Marks

• maker's mark: six-character underglaze blue mark on the base in seal-script, "Da Qing Qianlong nian zhi"

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History

Mrs. W. Wheeler Smith, New York (by 1911), gift; to Fogg Art Museum, 1911.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Mrs. W. Wheeler Smith

Accession Year

1911

Object Number

1911.8

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

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Descriptions

Description

A Chinese blue-and-white porcelain moon flask of the Qianlong period (1736-95) in Ming style; of circular form with tall neck and double scroll handles, the front and back with a central boss bearing a stylized floral motif, surrounded by eight stylized lotus-petal cartouches bearing the eight Buddhist emblems, all within a key-fret border; the sides with a band of scrolling lotuses; seal mark in underglaze blue; carved wood stand.

Exhibition History

• 32Q: 2460 East Arcade, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 04/20/2016
• Earthly Delights: 6,000 Years of Asian Ceramics, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 05/21/2022 - 08/14/2022

Subjects and Contexts

• Google Art Project

Related Media

• Visual description by Seung Yeon Sang, Henderson Curatorial Fellow in East Asian Art, Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art. Written August 2018.

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