bottle BM-1924-0114.1

Period:Yuan dynasty Production date:1330-1368 (circa)
Materials:porcelain
Technique:glazed, underglazed,
Subjects:flower
Dimensions:Diameter: 16 centimetres Height: 29.60 centimetres Weight: 00.95 kilograms

Description:
Yuhuchun bottle with underglaze blue decoration. This unusual pear-shaped yuhuchun bottle has a globular body, narrowing neck and flared mouth with an out-turned rim. It stands on a spreading foot ring. It is painted with a continuous scroll of chrysanthemum blooms all over the neck and body. The foot is painted with a classic scroll and inside the rim with clouds. The base is glazed..
IMG


Comments:Harrison-Hall 2001:Generally both Yuan blue-and-white and Yuan red-and-white decoration are arranged in parallel registers framed by double line borders. This bottle is unusual in that the design covers the whole of the surface area rather like a textile pattern. Silk brocades (duan) with repeated designs of flowers surrounded by encircling leaf stems and flower buds are known from the Yuan period. A silk brocade with a design of hydrangea branches which cover the whole surface area in a manner similar to that of the present porcelain bottle was excavated from the tomb of Qian Yu and his wife in Wuxi, dating from ad 1321.Chrysanthemums, the flowers of autumn, are also an auspicious emblem of longevity. Apparently their flowers were added to the previous year’s rice wine, a fact celebrated by Tao Yuanming (ad 365-427): “Autumn chrysanthemums have a lovely tint, I pluck their fresh petals so full of dew. Drowned in this sorrow-banishing liquor – I leave behind a world-laden heart. Though I enjoy the goblet all alone […}’.