Baluster jar and cover

Description

A large wheel-thrown porcelain jar and cover with underglaze blue and overglaze yellow, red, blue, green, gray, and black enamels on a white ground. From bottom to top, the jar is decorated with a pair of double-line bands in underglaze blue with red diagonal hatching; sixteen small petal-form panels containing alternating designs of butterflies and flower sprays; and eight large petal-form panels with floral (chrysanthemum, peony, and camellia) designs with rockery, insects, and birds. Around the shoulder there are eight alternating designs of butterflies and flower sprays between the tops of the large panels, and at the top is a decorative band similar to the bands at the base. Surrounding the neck are three elongated flowering branches, above which is a double-line band in underglaze blue. The interior is glazed with an accidental splash of blue on one side, while the base has a shallow foot ring and is unglazed. The cover is decorated with a double-line edge band in underglaze blue, and four lotus-petal form panels with alternating butterflies and flower sprays. At the top of the cover are three bands in underglaze blue and a knob in the shape of an unopened lotus bud with yellow sides and a red center. This combination of underglaze blue and overglaze enamels to decorate porcelain diminished in the late seventeenth century as overglaze blue enamels became increasingly used.

Exhibited

"Ausstellung Chinesischer Kunst"
Berlin, Jan 12–Apr. 1, 1929, no. 889.