Jar with Flowers, Rocks and Pheasants (1662–1722): Art, History and Details

Jar with Flowers, Rocks and Pheasants (1662–1722) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

In the Qing dynasty, art reached a high standard of technical perfection despite a tendency for extravagance and exaggerated ornament. This jar with susancai (plain three-color) decoration uses shades of light green, purple, and yellow, but no red. The vase features a pair of pheasants looking at each other among flowering plants, such as peonies and magnolia. The porcelain painter used fine dark outlines in a more graphic style to delineate motifs, to texture rocks, and depict minute details such as holes in weathered leaves of plants.

Object facts

• Title: Jar with Flowers, Rocks and Pheasants
• Date: 1662–1722
• Culture: China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911), Kangxi mark and reign (1662-1722)
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: enameled porcelain, with susancai (plain three-color) decoration
• Dimensions: Diameter: 35.5 cm (14 in.); Diameter of mouth: 21.8 cm (8 9/16 in.); Overall: 42.3 cm (16 5/8 in.)
• Collection: China - Qing Dynasty
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 2003.258

Collection credit

Bequest of Nicholas J. Velloney

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.