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A porcelain vase that has a round body and a tall, narrow neck. The piece is white with an enamel painting of thin, angular branches with many thin leaves, white blossoms, and large peaches across the body and near the top lip.

A porcelain vase stands upright on a faded grey background. The piece has a round body, a tall, narrow neck that goes straight up, and no foot. The piece is white with an enamel painting of thin, angular branches that start at the bottom and curve up to the center-left where there is a cluster of four large peaches. All of the peaches have a gradient of light yellow and pink. A branch reaches across the body of the piece to the right where another two peaches are. Another thin branch reaches up and curves down along the top lip. The branches are covered with many thin green and blue leaves and round white blossoms that have many small petals. There are two pink blossoms along the branch at the bottom-left.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1950.83.96
Title
Large Vase with Long, Straight, Cylindrical Neck and with Decoration of Blossoming and Fruiting Peach Branches
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/203953

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Enameled ware, 'fencai' type: porcelain with decoration in overglaze polychrome enamels; underglaze cobalt-blue mark reading 'Da Qing Qianlongnian zhi' in seal-script characters on the base
Technique
Overglaze enamel
Dimensions
H. 51.5 x Diam. 38.6 cm (20 1/4 x 15 3/16 in.)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Helen Pratt Dane
Accession Year
1950
Object Number
1950.83.96
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Descriptions

Description
By the early eighteenth century, potters at Jingdezhen, in Jiangxi province, had learned to prepare opaque colors through the addition of tin oxide to the enamel-glaze compound. (Except for red enamel, which is naturally opaque, enamels on earlier porcelains are all transparent.) Opaque enamels allowed ceramic painters to create gradations in color, which enabled them to suggest the effects of light and shade and to impart a sense of roundness and volume to the objects depicted. Such gradations of color are most apparent here in the peaches. A symbol of longevity, the peach was considered an especially appropriate motif for display during birthday and New Year's celebrations.

Exhibition History

  • Chinese and Japanese Painting of the Early Modern Era, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 02/27/1993 - 07/04/1993
  • East Asia in the Nineteenth Century, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 03/05/1994 - 08/21/1994
  • Women and the Arts of Asia, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 09/10/1994 - 03/05/1995
  • Plum, Orchid, Chrysanthemum, and Bamboo: Botanical Motifs and Symbols in East Asian Painting, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 07/06/2002 - 01/05/2003
  • Cultivating Virtue: Botanical Motifs and Symbols in East Asian Art, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 07/08/2006 - 04/08/2007
  • Re-View: S228-230 Arts of Asia, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 05/31/2008 - 06/01/2013
  • 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, 12/03/2015 - 12/01/2016; Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 12/07/2018 - 06/04/2019

Subjects and Contexts

  • Collection Highlights

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