Covered jar with design of flower maiden, sage, and child amidst flowering plants / Artist Unknown, Imari ware, Japan
About this Item
Record Details
- Accession Number
- 1972/2.72A&B
- Title
- Covered jar with design of flower maiden, sage, and child amidst flowering plants
- Artist Nationality
- Japanese
- Medium and Support
- porcelain, blue underglaze, and enamel overglaze painting
- Object Creation Date
- circa 1650
- Object Creation Place
- Asia (continent)
- Japan (nation)
- Kyushu-chiho (region)
- Saga (prefecture)
- Arita
- Creation Place 1
- Asia (continent)
- Creation Place 2
- Japan (nation)
- Creation Place 3
- Kyushu-chiho (region)
- Creation Place 4
- Saga (prefecture)
- Creation Place 5
- Arita
- Dimensions
- 37.3 cm x 26 cm x 26 cm (14 11/16 in. x 10 1/4 in. x 10 1/4 in.)
- Century
- Mid-17th century
- Primary Object Classification
- Ceramic
- Primary Object Type
- jar
- Secondary Object Classification
- Decorative Arts
- Physical Description
- A medium size, well potted porcelain jar with wooden rid, round shoulder and neck. Floral designs are painted with blue underglaze and red and gold overglaze enamels. There are Chinese scholar and attendant boy with a fan on one side and Japanese lady in kimono on the opposite side, painted with enamels. Band of flowers on the neck, another broader band of chrysanthemums on the shoulder. There is also a band of leaf patterns on the bottom. A large crack from neck to the middle of the body; porcelain glaze has small cracks all over the body. The foot is unglazed; the eye is fully glazed. No glaze on the rim. The teak wood lid, a later addition, has a finial made of an ivory netsuke of laughing Hotei.
- Subject Matter
- The Chinese sage with an attendant and flower maiden might be T’ao Yüan-ming, celebrated scholar and poet in Tang period. After his early retirement, he lived in his little estate where he planted many chrysanthemums and other flowers, and enjoyed drinking wine. The pot-bellied, half naked man Hotei is one of the “Seven gods of felicity,” the god of contentment and happiness. Partly Taoist and partly Buddhist origin, he is generally identified with the Chinese priest known as Pu-tai Ho-shang. The date is unknown; he is stated to have lived in the 6th, 7th, and 8th centuries. He carries a bag which is said to contain “precious things” (takaramono).
- Secondary Keywords
- buildings and the land
- containers
- containers by form
- flowers (plants)
- herbaceous plants
- landscapes (environments)
- natural landscapes
- objects we use
- people
- people (agents)
- people and culture
- people by activity
- people by gender
- plants
- sage (people)
- settlements and landscapes
- vegetation and vegetation components
- vegetation components
- vessels
- woody plants
- Rights
- If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit https://umma.umich.edu/about/services/request-image/ for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Technical Details
- Collection
- University of Michigan Museum of Art
- Record
- 1972/2.72A&B
- Link to this Item
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1972-sl-2.72a-amp-amp-sem-b/1972_2.72a_b
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- Full citation
-
"Covered jar with design of flower maiden, sage, and child amidst flowering plants; Artist Unknown, Imari ware, Japan." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1972-sl-2.72a-amp-amp-sem-b/1972_2.72a_b. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed March 29, 2024.