ticketsMember | Make a donation

Dish with Recumbent Elephant Surrounded by Clouds

15th–16th century
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 250
This exceptional dish, with its depiction of a kneeling elephant surrounded by abstract cloud formations, must be included among the dozen or two finest known early Vietnamese blue-and-white porcelain dishes and is therefore a major addition to the Museum's small but choice collection of these wares. The refined and sophisticated drawing of the charming and delightful elephant and the excellent control of the underglaze cobalt blue set it apart from most of the known corpus of important fifteenth- and sixteenth-century porcelains. The technique of manufacture, shape of the dish, and general composition of design are clearly based on blue-and-white prototypes of the early Ming dynasty (1368–1644), but the whimsical elephant and the particulars of the subsidiary design are uniquely the product of Vietnamese artistic sensibilities. The salty taste of the surface of the dish suggests it was recovered from a shipwreck.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Dish with Recumbent Elephant Surrounded by Clouds
  • Date: 15th–16th century
  • Culture: Vietnam
  • Medium: Stoneware with underglaze cobalt-blue decoration
  • Dimensions: Diam. 14 1/4 in. (36.2 cm)
  • Classification: Ceramics
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Friends of Asian Art Gifts, 1998
  • Object Number: 1998.213
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Ewer in the Form of a Phoenix, Stoneware with underglaze cobalt blue decoration, Vietnam
Ewer in the Form of a Phoenix
Vietnam
ca. 15th–16th century
Bottle with Birds and Peony Scroll , Stoneware painted with cobalt blue under transparent glaze, Vietnam

Bottle with Birds and Peony Scroll

Vietnam
15th century
Plate with Peonies , Stoneware painted with cobalt blue under transparent glaze, Vietnam

Plate with Peonies

Vietnam
15th century
Dish with peony design
Vietnam, Red River delta, possibly Hai Du’ong Province
16th century
Vase, White stoneware with translucent glaze, Vietnam
Vase
Vietnam
15th–16th century

Related Content

Timeline of Art History

Entries from The Met's art encyclopedia.

Publications

Books, guides, and catalogues published by The Met.

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.

Dish with Recumbent Elephant Surrounded by Clouds - Vietnam - The Metropolitan Museum of Art