Page 14 - Ming Porcelain Primer
P. 14
40 TRADESCANT JAR The stoneware jar has five loops on the shoulder and a floral design of
four undulating scrolls with four large flowers in slip lines filled with green
Guangdong or Fujian stoneware, and yellow lead glazes.
decorated with lead glazes in green,
yellow and brown A small group of jars with applied decorations and glazed bright
H 37.0 cm, Dia. 35.0 cm green and amber are referred to as Tradescant jars, named after Sir John
Ming dynasty, late 16th cent. Tradescant (d. 1627), who collected curiosities during his travels as a bot-
Inv.-No. GRV 1950-70 anist. These objects, including this type of jar, were given to Elias Ashmole
PROVENANCE: Donated by the heirs (1617–1692) in 1659 and formed part of the founding collections, the cab-
of R. Verbeek, found in Indonesia inet of curiosities, at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England. The
Publ.: Ottema 1943, pl. 38 ‘exotic’ Tradescant jar was displayed with a carved and painted ostrich
egg, a gilded alabaster Buddha, weapons and shells.
Jars of this type were made in kilns in Guangdong for the South East
Asian market. In Indonesia, they were treated as heirlooms.
Ref.: Adhyatman and Ridho 1984, p. 132, no. 90.; Valdes, Long and Barbosa 1992, pp. 128–129, nos 67
and 68; Harrisson 1995, pl. 20; Harrison-Hall 2001, p. 448, no. 15:3.
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