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Vase with Poet Zhou Dunyi

dated 1587
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 204
The larger seated figure resting near the banks of a lotus pond is the scholar-official Zhou Dunyi (1017–1073), who wrote an elegant poem about his love for this flower. Representations of poets appear in Chinese ceramics in the fourteenth century and are often identified by references to their writings. A long inscription written on the bottom of this jar dates it to 1587, and indicates that it was commissioned for the use of an auxiliary palace in the southwest.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Vase with Poet Zhou Dunyi
  • Period: Ming dynasty (1368–1644), Wanli mark and period (1573–1620)
  • Date: dated 1587
  • Culture: China
  • Medium: Porcelain painted with cobalt blue under transparent glaze (Jingdezhen ware)
  • Dimensions: H. 23 3/4 in. (60.3 cm); Diam. 12 7/8 in. (32.7 cm); Diam. of rim 7 5/8 in. (19.4 cm); Diam. of base 7 7/8 in. (20 cm)
  • Classification: Ceramics
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1920
  • Object Number: 20.41.2
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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