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Gallery Text

Like the Charger with Peacock Decoration displayed nearby, this large dish was likely fashioned for a foreign buyer, as wares of this shape and size were not traditionally used in China. Its decorative motif, however, of a double peony with one blossom up and the other down, is Chinese. A floral scroll of blossoming lotuses interspersed with lotus leaves occupies the inner walls, while designs of flowering and fruiting branches decorate the rim. This pattern is relatively rare (one of the few other published examples comes from a set of chargers in the Ardebil Shrine in Tehran), but the exceptional quality of the painting on this piece is even more remarkable.

Jingdezhen blue-and-white porcelain produced during the Yongle (1403–24) and Xuande (1426–35) reigns is considered the finest, most desirable blue-and-white ware ever made because of its radiant glaze, superb porcelain body, magnificent cobalt-blue color, and expertly rendered painted decoration. Although many of the early fifteenth-century wares produced at Jingdezhen were created for the Chinese imperial court, some were made specifically for export to wealthy clients in the Islamic world.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
2005.110
Title
Deep Circular Charger with Everted Lip and Blossoming Peony Decor
Classification
Vessels
Work Type
vessel
Date
early 15th century (probably Yongle period)
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China, Jiangxi province, Jingdezhen
Period
Ming dynasty, 1368-1644
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/20972

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Blue-and-white ware: porcelain with decoration painted in underglaze cobalt blue
Dimensions
H. 7.0 x Diam. 40.5 cm (2 3/4 x 15 15/16 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Richard Bryant Hobart, Cambridge, MA (by 1963), by inheritance; to Mabel Hobart Wentworth, Washington DC (1963–1969), sold; through [Parke Bernet Galleries, New York, December 1969], sold; through [Spink and Son, London, 1969]; to F. Gordon and Elizabeth Hunter Morrill Collection, Boston/ Del Ray, Florida/ Florence, Italy, (1969–2003), sold; to [Doyle Galleries, New York, September 2003], sold; to [S. Marchant & Son, London, September 2003–March 2005], sold; to [Chinese Porcelain Company, New York, March–August 2005], sold; to Harvard University Art Museum, August 2005.

Notes:
1. Richard Bryant Hobart (1885–1963), Harvard College Class of 1906
2. Mabel "Muffie" Hobart Wentworth Brandon Cabot (b. 1936), daughter of Richard Bryant Hobart and Janet Elliott Wulsin (1894–1963)
3. Ferdinand Gordon Morrill (1910–2000)
4. Elizabeth Hunter Morrill (1912–2003)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Purchase through the generosity of the Ralph C. Marcove International Understanding Through Arts and Crafts Foundation
Accession Year
2005
Object Number
2005.110
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Publication History

  • The Richard Bryant Hobart Collection of Chinese Ceramics & Paintings, Part Two, auct. cat., Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc. (New York, 1969), pp. 40-41, no. 214
  • Harvard University Art Museums, Harvard University Art Museums Annual Report 2005-2006 (Cambridge, MA, 2007), p. 13
  • Stephan Wolohojian and Alvin L. Clark, Jr., Harvard Art Museum/ Handbook, ed. Stephan Wolohojian, Harvard Art Museum (Cambridge, 2008), p. 54

Exhibition History

  • Cultivating Virtue: Botanical Motifs and Symbols in East Asian Art, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 07/08/2006 - 04/08/2007
  • Downtime, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 04/28/2007 - 04/20/2008
  • Re-View: S228-230 Arts of Asia, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 05/31/2008 - 06/01/2013
  • Re-View: S228-230 (Asian rotation: 6), Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 05/24/2011 - 11/12/2011
  • Cultivating Virtue: Botanical Motifs and Symbols in East Asian Art, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 05/12/2012 - 06/01/2013
  • 32Q: 2600 East Asian, Japanese, Chinese and Korean, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 11/22/2021

Subjects and Contexts

  • Google Art Project

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu