Accession Number
1982/1.217

Title
Vase

Artist(s)
Chinese

Artist Nationality
Chinese (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
1662-1722

Medium & Support
porcelain with underglaze, and glaze

Dimensions
17 13/16 in (45.2 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of the Estate of Hobart Taylor, Jr.

Subject matter
A qinghua (清华) blue and white vase of the Kangxi period (1662-1722).  

During the Kangxi reign, underglaze blue painting advanced to have many shades of blue, often referred to as "five colors of blue," ranging from the palest to purest shades of cobalt in order to mimic ink painting. This leads to many Kangxi period qinghua vessels displaying landscape paintings.
Kangxi, the second emperor of the Manchurian Qing dynasty, took the throne at the age of eight and ruled for a total of sixty-one years, the longest of any Chinese emperor. Being a foreign ruler in China, he assimilated by learning Chinese, becoming Buddhist, and studied the Classics to to gain public support. He accomplished many great feats such as completing the unification of China, improved government administration, decreased corruption, and of most importance to the production of porcelain, he reinstated the official kilns at Jingdezhen and opened the overseas trade. During Kangxi’s reign (1662-1722) there were many advancements to porcelain manufacture and the introduction of many new types and forms. Kangxi achieved this by appointing two different kiln supervisors during his tenure, Zang Yingxuan and Lang Tingji who are the names behind Zang yao (ware) and Lang  yao (ware), respectively. Other types discovered and produced during this time include but are not limited to various refined monochromatic and copper red glazes, including Lang yao—sang de boeuf—and peach-bloom, underglaze blue in five colors, the powder colors, famille verte, bisquit, fencai, and the enameled colors, falangcai. Porcelains produced under the Kangxi reign appealed to both the elites of Chinese society, and those overseas. 

Physical Description
This porcelain rouleau vase is painted with various shades of underglaze blue to depict figures within a landscape, framed by an underglaze blue foliate border, with lingzhi mushroom, and floral and cloud sprays around the neck. It is covered in a clear glaze.

Primary Object Classification
Ceramic

Primary Object Type
vase

Collection Area
Asian

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form. Keywords
blue-and-white (ceramic glaze)
ceramic (material)
cobalt (mineral)
cobalt blue (pigment)
figures (representations)
flower vases
landscapes (environments)
porcelain (visual works)
vases