Dish with Zhang Guolao (1662–1722): Art, History and Details

Dish with Zhang Guolao (1662–1722) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Zhang Guolao, featured on this dish, is one of the Eight Immortals and a gifted magician who was believed to know the secret arts to obtain longevity. Typically depicted as an old man and accompanied by his mule, he is the patron saint of artists. His mule is said to be magical; it can be folded up like a piece of paper to fit into a small bag. The central scene is framed by a sumptuously gold-decorated rim showing spaces reserved for landscape scenes in primarily fresh blue and green colors.

Object facts

• Title: Dish with Zhang Guolao
• Date: 1662–1722
• Culture: China, Jiangxi province, Jingdezhen kilns, Qing dynasty (1644-1911), Kangxi reign (1662-1722)
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: porcelain with famille verte overglaze enamel and painted gold decoration (interior) and powder blue glaze with painted decoration (exterior)
• Dimensions: Diameter: 4.6 x 19.8 cm (1 13/16 x 7 13/16 in.)
• Collection: China - Qing Dynasty
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1989.306

Collection credit

Bequest of Mrs. Severance A. Millikin

Further reading listed by the museum

• Catalogue of the Severance and Greta Millikin Collection. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1990.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.