Prunus Vase (Meiping) with Blossoming Lotus
Unknown Artist
late 1400s
Medium
Porcelain with polychrome glazes, Fahua ware
Dimensions
h. 37.5 cm · diam. 19 cm
Classification
Ceramic
Department
Chinese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Bequest of John L. Severance
Accession Number
1942.716
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
According to 11th-century poet Zhou Dunyi, “all people like peonies, but I alone like the lotus because it emerges from the mud unstained.” The lotus is a symbol of purity and popular among Chinese literati and in Buddhism. This vase shows lotus flowers rising from the water’s surface depicted in elegant yet simple ripples. Made in a kiln at Jingdezhen in southern China, this vase is an example of the fahua technique—decoration with raised outlines produced by squeezing clay from a tube onto the...