Meiping vase
Unknown Artist
early 18th century
Medium
Porcelain with crackled green glaze (Jingdezhen ware)
Dimensions
H. 9 in. (22.9 cm); Diam. 5 in. (12.7 cm)
Classification
Ceramics
Culture & Period
China · Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Kangxi period (1662–1722)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Benjamin Altman, 1913
Accession Number
14.40.347
Art Historical Context
Behold the elegant Meiping vase, a exquisite example of early 18th-century Chinese porcelain from the Kangxi period (1662–1722) of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911). Standing at just 9 inches tall with a 5-inch diameter, this pear-shaped vessel—known as a *meiping*—features a graceful swollen body tapering to a narrow neck, originally designed to hold wine or slender flower stems. Crafted in Jingdezhen, China's renowned porcelain capital, it exemplifies the imperial kilns' mastery during a golden age of ceramic production. The vase's standout feature is its crackled green glaze, a celadon-type fin...