Wine Jar with Design of Eight Taoist Immortals and Eight Buddhist Symbols (Fahua ware)
DateWanli period (1573–1620) of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
Mediumporcelain with designs in trailed slip and alkali-lead glazes
Dimensions34.3 cm (13 1/2 in.)
ClassificationsCeramics
Credit LineMuseum purchase, with support from Mrs. Helen Bigelow Merriman
Object number1908.35
DescriptionLidded jar. Powdered lapis color and turquoise blue. Fahua ware. Ebony cover (late) (broken). 7/18/51 J. Plumer: A fine piece. Cracks perhaps don't matter, since it is a common piece, not made for collectors.Label TextFahua (“designs within borders”) is ceramic ware with alkali-lead glazes that was inspired by cloisonné metalwork. First produced in Shanxi province, North China, during the Yuan dynasty (1279–1368), fahua ware was made of biscuit-fired stoneware covered with a white-clay slip to provide a bright ground for the colored glazes. By the mid-15th century, large fahua vessels, such as this wine jar (guan), were also being produced in South China at Jingdezhen. These southern fahua vessels used hard-fired, white porcelain (without need for a slip) and glazes with a lower lead content. Fahua ware remained popular in China until the Qing dynasty (1644–1911) but was rarely exported. Characteristic of fahua ware, the designs on this wine jar were created with raised lines of clay-slip from a bag with a tube, and added, incised details. The unglazed porcelain body was then vitrified in a high temperature firing. Reminiscent of the technique of cloisonné metalwork, the cells created by the sliplines were then filled with the vitreous, alkali-lead based fahua glazes colored with mixtures of cobalt, copper, iron and manganese oxides. Two of the most characteristic colors used in Chinese cloisonné metalwork as well as in fahua ware were the cobalt-tinted dark blue and copper-tinted turquoise. The whites are the porcelain body showing through a transparent glaze. As exemplified by this jar the inside of fahua vessels was often covered with a copper-tinted lightgreen glaze. With potassium oxide as the main flux, the glazes were fixed by means of a relatively low-temperature firing (850–950ºC) in an oxidizing-toneutral atmosphere. The body of this wine jar is embellished with a design of the Eight Taoist Immortals (baxian) in a landscape setting. The neck is embellished with cloud forms and the foot with a band of stylized lotus petals. The Eight Auspicious Symbols of Buddhism (bajixiang), enclosed within ruyi-shaped lappets, surround the shoulder of the vessel.ProvenanceYamanaka & Co., Boston
On View
On view
Chinese
first half of the 8th century, Tang dynasty (618–906)
Chinese
Tongzhi period (1862–1874) of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911)
Chinese
late 11th century –early 12th century, Northern Song dynasty (960-1127)
Chinese
11th or 12th century, Northern Song dynasty (960–1127)
Chinese
11th or 12th century, Northern Song dynasty (960–1127)
Chinese
Kangxi period (1662–1722), Qing dynasty (1644–1911)