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Vase: C.699 & A-1991

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Current Location: In storage

Maker(s)

Unknown

Entities

Categories

Description

Large baluster vase with pierced wooden cover. Hard-paste porcelain painted in underglaze blue. The neck has an everted mouth rim. The rounded, sloping shoulders taper and gently splay towards the foot. The unglazed base is flat, and slightly recessed. The neck is decorated with four vignettes of ruji heads reserved on a Y-work ground, above a border of archaising bronze motifs reserved on a key fret ground. The central scene of the vase depicts scholarly pursuits; one table of five scholars seated at a table playing chess with attendants, with trees and balustrade, and five scholars seated at another table, with attendants. The scene is above a border of lappets.

Notes

History note: Purchased from Christie's, January 1923, from Colonel Goff's Collection, for £33.0s.0d; Henry Scipio Reitlinger (d. 1950); the Reitlinger Trust, Maidenhead, from which transferred in 1991.

Legal notes

Bequeathed by H.S. Reitlinger, 1950; transferred from the Reitlinger Trust, 1991.

Measurements and weight

Diameter: 27.3 cm
Height: 45.9 cm

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1950) by Reitlinger, Henry Scipio

Dating

Ming
Jiajing (1521-1567)
16th Century
Circa 1522 - 1566

People, subjects and objects depicted

Components of the work

Decoration composed of enamel ( blue)
Cover composed of wood (plant material)
Vase

Materials used in production

Glaze
Hard-paste porcelain

Techniques used in production

Glazing (coating)

Related exhibitions

Identification numbers

Accession number: C.699 & A-1991
Primary reference Number: 21170
Old object number: CHICER/277

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Friday 6 September 2024

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "Vase" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/21170 Accessed: 2025-12-05 19:25:22

Citation for Wikipedia

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{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/21170 |title=Vase |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-05 19:25:22|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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