Vase Depicting a Phoenixlike Bird (1700–50): Artwork and History

Vase Depicting a Phoenixlike Bird (1700–50) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Talavera poblana Puebla, Mexico.

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

Chinese blue-and-white porcelain arrived in the Americas during the 1570s, when the Manila Galleons began crossing the Pacific Ocean from Mexico to the Spanish Philippines and back. Cargoes of Asian luxury goods landing at Acapulco were transshipped to Colonial Mexico City and Puebla, where they remained until shipment continued across the Atlantic Ocean to Seville. A thriving ceramic industry developed in Puebla, producing glazed earthenware imitating porcelain and freely adapting Chinese designs, often with humorous vitality. This vase of Chinese shape displays panels with phoenix-like birds framed by dot-and-leaf patterns, scrolled tendrils, and semicircular “Chinese asters” beneath a cloudlike canopy. Floral bands on the shoulder and footing of the jar similarly reflect decorations derived from blue-and-white export porcelain.

Object facts

• Title: Vase Depicting a Phoenixlike Bird
• Date: 1700–50
• Artist attribution: Talavera poblana Puebla, Mexico
• Place of origin: Puebla
• Medium: Tin-glazed earthenware
• Dimensions: H.: 49 cm (19 1/4 in.)
• Type: Ceramics
• Department: Arts of the Americas
• Reference number: 1923.1445

Collection credit

Gift of Eva Lewis in memory of her husband, Herbert Pickering Lewis

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The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.