Page 44 - Yuan Dynasty Ceramics

Chapter 07 (pp. 330-385)_Layout 1 7/7/10 5:42 PM Page 373

7.49a and b. Pair of blue and white temple vases with dragon decor bearing a dated inscription equivalent to 1351. Made in Jingdzhen,
Yuan dynasty, 63.6 cm tall. Sir Percival David Collection at the British Museum.

painted wares appear with a spouted la¯vard bowl possibly the Mongols’ first lunar month, which as we learned ear-
of Chinese origin, and a pear with pear-shaped metal bot- lier from Marco Polo’s description was known as White
tle (yuhuchun ping). This 1360 painting is thought to be a Day and marked the beginning of spring. 191
faithful copy of an earlier painting that illustrated ceramic The introduction of blue and white porcelain probably
and metal wares produced during the life of Rashid al- arose from collaborative contributions of Mongol, Muslim,
Din (1247–1318; see Fig. 7.26). But in later Persian illumi- Tibetan, and Chinese officials and artisans, as well as from
nated manuscripts of the Timurid period (1370–1530), the selective use of imported cobalt from Persia (primarily
blue and white is frequently depicted. A page from the regions now in and near Iran). This high-quality cobalt pig-
Jami al Tavarikh (ca. 1410) shows a blue and white Chinese ment was later called Mohammedan blue (Huihui qing),
dragon jar among Persian metal wares. The illustrated Muslim blue, or Sumali blue. 192
frontispiece to Shahnama of Ferdwosi, dated 1441, depicts The cross-fertilization of ideas is also evident in motifs
five pieces of Chinese blue and white. 189 All of these ex- used on Yuan imperial blue and white. As mentioned ear-
amples seem to indicate that new types of Chinese ce- lier, designs like the cloud collar lappet, petal panels, ogi-
ramics, including blue and white porcelain, were being val window, scrolling plants, and animals are linked to
produced and exported in the late fourteenth and early central Asian Uighur and Mongol embroidered, brocade,
fifteenth centuries. and tapestry woven textiles, or kesi. 193 In particular, the
lively scenes inside and outside the boundaries formed by
Imperial Blue and White Porcelain
these lappets and ogival windows on blue and white
Archaeological and literary evidence suggests that blue porcelain depict birds, animals, and plants and flowers
and white porcelain was created for the Mongols in the reminiscent of those seen on Uighur kesi. 194
second quarter of the fourteenth century as a symbol of Historical evidence also suggests that the Muslim Turk
their power uniting heaven (associated with the color Mingli Donga (d. 1340), who served as head of the Bu-
blue) with earth (linked to pure white). 190 One example of reau of Imperial Manufactures, may have played a role in
the potency of this color combination is the offering of the creation of blue and white porcelain, although his ex-
white gifts to the Eternal Blue Heaven on the first day of ecution in 1340 on charges of sedition and the brutal in-

Yuan Dynasty Ceramics 373