Page 154 - Decorative Arts, Part II: Far Eastern Ceramics and Paintings, Persian and Indian Rugs and Carpets

1942-9-549 (C-402)
Vase, Meiping Shape

Qing dynasty, second quarter of the eighteenth century
1
Steatitic porcelain with colorless glaze, 15.2 x 8.2 (6 x 3 A)
Widener Collection

TECHNICAL NOTES
The body appears to be covered with a brown slip, which is
revealed at the wide, sharply cut foot-ring. The glaze is colorless
and crackled, and has an uneven surface. The foot-ring and the
lip are unglazed.

PROVENANCE
Bettlick collection, Tianjin, China. Thomas B. Clarke
[1848-1931], New York; sold 1913 to Peter A. B. Widener,
Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; inheritance from
Estate of Peter A. B. Widener by gift through power of appoint-
ment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania.

HE VASE HAS a completely opaque body. The shape
Tis a variation on the classical meiping, or "plum
1
[blossom] vase." The decoration is incised into the body
and consists of a dragon chasing a flaming pearl. Classic
scrolls are incised around the neck and foot.
SL

NOTES
i. Research has shown that the term meiping does not predate
the Qing dynasty. See the entry on 1942.9.536; and Seattle
1988, 58.

REFERENCES
1947 Christensen: 24.

138 D E C O R A T I V E A R T S