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BALUSTER VASE WITH TRUMPET NECK WITH THE EIGHT HORSES OF KING MU WANG (ONE OF TWO)

Creator(s): Unknown (Ceramicist)

On view in: Dining Room


About this object

This baluster vase with trumpet neck (or Yenyen vase) is decorated with the Eight Horses of King Mu Wang among rockwork with scenes divided vertically by a tall pine tree rising to either the shoulders or neck rim. The exterior was carved in low relief to depict the horses in the landscape and then decorated with underglaze blue and copper red set against a celadon ground. The tall trumpet neck and baluster body were thrown on a potter's wheel in separate sections and then luted together. The eight mythical steeds of Mu Wang (trad. 1001-947 B.C.E.), the fifth sovereign of the Chou dynasty, were used to drive the King through the Empire and to visit the Queen Mother of the West. Celadon is a high-fired green glaze that receives it color from small traces of iron and titanium oxides when fired in a reducing atmosphere. The term originated from Celadon, the shepherd in the stage version of Honore d'Urfe's pastoral romance L'Astree, who wore ribbons of a soft gray-green tone. The mark is an underglaze blue artemesia leaf under the foot. The vase is on a later carved teak stand.

This baluster vase with trumpet neck (or Yenyen vase) is decorated with the Eight Horses of King Mu Wang among rockwork with scenes divided vertically by a tall pine tree rising to either the shoulders or neck rim. The exterior was carved in low relief to depict the horses in the landscape and then decorated with underglaze blue and copper red set against a celadon ground. The mark is an underglaze blue artemesia leaf under the foot.

Object name:
BALUSTER VASE WITH TRUMPET NECK WITH THE EIGHT HORSES OF KING MU WANG (ONE OF TWO)
Made from:
Carved porcelain with underglaze blue and copper red on celadon ground
Made in:
Jingdezhen, China
Date made:
1700-1722
Size:
44.5 cm (17 1/2 in.)

Detailed information for this item

Catalog number:
26.253.2
Class:
CERAMICS
Signature marks:
Credit line:
Bequest of Marjorie Merriweather Post, 1973