Baluster jar
Category
Ceramics
Date
1662 - 1722
Materials
ceramic
Measurements
1160 mm (H)465 mm (Diameter)
Order this imageCollection
Polesden Lacey, Surrey
NT 1245607
Summary
A pair of blue and white style decorative jars from the reign of Emperor Kangxi, of the Qing Dynasty. Decorated in a westernised style of traditional Chinese symbolism, with four large medallions showing domestic scenes on a blue ground with foliage in white and lambrequins round the shoulders. On the top is a Chinese guardian lion, the Dog of Fo, a mythical creature that symbolizes strength and protects homes and temples. The jars were often painted by hand using cobalt blue pigment and in the seventeenth century these were made specifically for export.
Provenance
The bequest of Margaret (Anderson) McEwan, The Hon. Mrs Ronald - later Dame Margaret - Henry Fulke Greville, DBE (1863-1942) from probate records linked with the donation of the property to the National Trust in 1943. These items found on the record for Polesden Lacey Library, page 21.