Page 25 - Yuan_Dynasty_Ceramics

Chapter 07 (pp. 330-385)_Layout 1 7/7/10 5:42 PM Page 354

7.31. Bottle or vase (meiping) with sapphire blue 7.32. Dish or plate with flat bracket-lobed rim; unglazed base;
glaze and reserve white dragon decoration, Yuan sapphire blue glaze; and reserve white running qilin (mythical
dynasty, fourteenth century, 43.8 cm tall. Made auspicious animal), pheasants, and phoenixes among flower
at Jingdezhen. Yangzhou Museum. decorations, Yuan dynasty, 41.5 cm diameter. Made at
Jingdezhen. Topkapi Palace Museum, Istanbul.

covered ceramic inkstone excavated in Nara, Japan, and a pire, and families buried their valuables, including heirloom
small qingbai inkstone discovered without its lid in a Song porcelain, for safekeeping. The princely hoards at Gao’an,
tomb near Jingdezhen—it can be safely assumed that the Baoding, and Jintan are important finds that reveal a great
covered containers at Zhushan are inkstones as well. deal about Yuan kilns and their royal patronage.
In addition to the five-claw dragons, which were a sign The largest treasure was found in 1980 at Gao’an in
of Yuan emperors and the predominant decoration on Jiangxi province, during the expansion of the Second
pieces excavated at the Doufulong site, secondary Yuan- Electronic Factory of Jiangxi. A total of 239 pieces of ce-
era Buddhist motifs include Ba Da Ma (a type of modi- ramics (counting both broken and unbroken pieces) were
fied lotus panel enclosing Eight Great Symbols), Za Bao found in a neatly organized tin-roofed pit that was 1.3
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(various treasures), Shizi Chu (the double vajra), and meters in diameter and 0.8 meter deep. Included were
cresting sea waves. As discussed, five-claw imperial four pieces of bronze and two broken pieces of iron, as
dragon weiqi jars and inkstones are specifically linked to well as a wealth of ceramics: 169 celadons from
the Wenzong emperor. 89 Longquan, three pieces of Jun wares, and 67 works from
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Jingdezhen. The porcelains from Jingdezhen included
Three Princely Treasures
blue and white wares, underglaze red pieces, qingbai, and
The year 1340, when the last Yuan emperor, Shundi, danbai (eggwhite wares), which ranged in quality from
came of age and assumed full power, also marked the be- common to imperial. Twenty-three have been classified
ginning of many uprisings in China. Almost a decade of “world art treasures” due to their breathtaking craftsman-
battles for control ensued in the area where the kilns of ship and historical significance.
Jingdezhen were located (then known as Raozhou), which The four-claw dragon decoration on many of the
caused the Yuan imperial kiln to cease production by pieces suggests that their owner was most likely a
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1352. Escalating turmoil led to the fall of the Yuan em- prince. According to the Yuan shi (The official history of
354 Yuan Dynasty Ceramics