Vase with lotus and dragon decoration in underglaze blue, Ming dynasty, Yongle reign (1403-1424)-China Archive

Image Number: K1B011423N000000000PAC
Dynasty: Ming dynasty
Category: Ceramics
Function: Container
Material: Minerals/Ceramics/
Description:
The blue and white globe vase is huge and thick. The body is surrounded by a powerful three claw dragon that pierces the lotus. The overall momentum is imperial and dignified. It is a famous piece of Yongle blue and white porcelain in the National Palace Museum. The body of the bottle is dense, and the glaze is bright and moist. The mouth is slightly extravagant, the neck is straight, the belly is round, the bottom is slightly concave, and there is no round foot. The whole body is decorated with a look back at the lotus piercing three claw dragon. It opens its mouth and tongue, exposes its teeth and eyes, and stretches its claws. The dragon body is covered with scales and is vigorous. The bottle neck and the background gap are painted with lotus flower patterns. The blue and white flowers are gorgeous and thick, and the painting lines are smooth, showing the superb craft of porcelain making at this time. In the years of Yongle and Xuande, large blue and white wares, such as celestial sphere bottles and flat pots, were sometimes fired. Blue and white porcelain is painted with cobalt oxide minerals on the porcelain body. After a layer of transparent glaze is applied, it is about 1000 ℃