Vase with flower arrangement and scrollwork (c. 1750–1800): Art, History and Details

Vase with flower arrangement and scrollwork (c. 1750–1800) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

The symmetry of the floral arrangement emerging from the blue-and-white porcelain vase reveals an idealized vision. The overflowing vase is among the most ancient motifs in Indian art, used to convey the concept of abundance. This image, made for an elite patron of northern India, implies the prosperity that has accrued from international connections. The vase, painted with a European-style landscape, is of the type that was made in China for export to Europe. The scrolling ornament on either side may be ultimately derived from Persian motifs, but reworked into a European style, painted by Indian artists.

Object facts

• Title: Vase with flower arrangement and scrollwork
• Date: c. 1750–1800
• Culture: Mughal India, Lucknow
• Type: Painting
• Technique: Gum tempera and gold on paper
• Collection: Indian Art - Mughal
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 2013.354

A detail from the museum

The blue bell-shaped flowers may be neelakurinji, which bloom once every twelve years.

Collection credit

Gift in honor of Madeline Neves Clapp; Gift of Mrs. Henry White Cannon by exchange; Bequest of Louise T. Cooper; Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund; From the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection

Further reading listed by the museum

• Mace, Sonya Rhie, Mohsen Ashtiany, Catherine Glynn, Pedro Moura Carvalho, Marcus Fraser, and Ruby Lal. Mughal Paintings: Art and Stories: the Cleveland Museum of Art. London: D Giles Limited, 2016.
• Desjardins, Tara. "Patna, Lucknow, and the Curious Crest of John Deane: An Investigation of Two Indian Glass Centers and a Colonial Drinking Set." Journal of glass studies, vol. 63 (2021): 247–267.

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.