Flask
Category
Ceramics
Date
1590 - 1620
Materials
porcelain, underglaze cobalt blue
Measurements
260 x 90 mm
Place of origin
Jingdezhen
Order this imageCollection
Wallington, Northumberland
NT 581647
Summary
Flask or bottle, porcelain, square section shallow domed shoulders with a narrow spiralling fluted neck, made in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, China, 1590-1620; decorated in underglaze cobalt blue, each of the four sides painted with alternative floral scenes of chrysanthemums and flowering peonies amongst rocks and flying insects within line band, shoulders with scrollwork pattern, and a simple line at the mouth; he base is unglazed.
Full description
Such flasks or bottles were originally made to store alcohol on long sea voyages where their square shape made them easy to store, probably in a chest with nine, 12 or 16 identical bottles. The raised ridging around the neck imitates the scoring for a screw top and was perhaps fitted with a metal, possibly pewter, cover. The form of the square bottle is modelled on European glass ware, also made to pack neatly into square or rectangular chests; copies are also known in European stoneware and faience. Similar examples, also from the Wanli period (1572-1620) are in the British Museum, see Jessica Harrison-Hall, ‘Ming Ceramics in the British Museum’, no. 11:10-11:12, p. 280-281.
Provenance
Gift from Sir Charles Philips Trevelyan 3rd Bt
Marks and inscriptions
Drawing room/North Door/4 (paper label)...very faint