Jar (1522–66): Art, History and Details

Jar (1522–66) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

The jar is painted with vibrant underglaze cobalt blue depicting the four seasons and stages in the life of a scholar-official. In the first scene, a scholar leaves his home in spring hoping to pass the civil service examinations in the city. In the autumn scene, he successfully returns on a horse, prepared for a career at court. The summer scene shows him as an aged man watching his offspring play along a lake. The winter scene depicts him writing while attendants offer him hot tea and break the ice for fresh water from the pond in the foreground.

Object facts

• Title: Jar
• Date: 1522–66
• Culture: China, Jiangxi Province, Jingdezhen kilns, Ming dynasty (1368–1644), Jiajing mark and reign (1522–66)
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: porcelain with underglaze blue decoration
• Dimensions: Overall: 34.6 cm (13 5/8 in.)
• Collection: China - Ming Dynasty
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1917.13

A detail from the museum

The jar with brilliant cobalt blue decoration depicts the four seasons and stages in the life of a scholar-official.

Collection credit

Worcester R. Warner Collection

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.