Plate with Isle of the Immortals (1723–35): Art, History and Details

Plate with Isle of the Immortals (1723–35) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

This multicolored dish is decorated with the sacred isle, also seen on the exterior of the blue-and-white dish nearby. A pavilion emerges amid rising and falling waves, a symbol of constant transformation and change. Above the waves are mysterious clouds, symbolizing the cosmic vital energy (qi) that animates all things and beings on earth in Daoism. The interior of the dish also shows cranes carrying sticks in their beaks, a motif that symbolizes longevity. Cranes carrying sticks above a pavilion in the sea express the wish “May you live to a ripe old age (haiwu tianchou; 海屋添籌).”

Object facts

• Title: Plate with Isle of the Immortals
• Date: 1723–35
• Culture: China, Jiangxi province, Jingdezhen kilns, Qing dynasty (1644-1911), Yongzheng mark and reign (1723-35)
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: porcelain decorated in underglaze cobalt blue and overglaze enamels
• Dimensions: Diameter: 21.2 cm (8 3/8 in.)
• Collection: China - Qing Dynasty
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1956.709

Collection credit

The Fanny Tewksbury King Collection

Further reading listed by the museum

• Little, Stephen. Realm of the Immortals: Daoism in the Arts of China: the Cleveland Museum of Art, February 10-April 10, 1988. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1988.
• Delacour, Catherine. La Voie Du Tao: Un Autre Chemin de L’être: Galeries Nationales, Grand Palais, 29 Mars-5 Juillet 2010. Paris: Réunion des musées nationaux, 2010.

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.