Vase with Golden Pheasants

Vase with Golden Pheasants

Unknown artist

The flower-and-bird painting in this vase was intricately executed in colored enamels (falangcai), with careful modeling, shading, and blending of colors reflecting European influences through missionary-artists at the Qing court. The Jesuit artist Giuseppe Castiglione (1688–1766), in particular, exerted tremendous impact at the Qianlong academy.

Details

Dimensions
overall: height 0.186 m, width 0.105 m
Department
Chinese Art
Holding institution
Cleveland Museum of Art
Image provider
cleveland-museum-of-art
License
CC0-1.0
Credit
John L. Severance Fund

Art Genome Taxonomy

9 tags

Subject Matter

  • Animals Both · 99%

    Two bird figures are clearly visible on the vase, and the catalog title identifies the work as Vase with Golden Pheasants.

  • Flora Both · 98%

    Flowering plants, branches, and leaves are prominent in the decoration; the catalog describes the imagery as flower-and-bird painting.

Visual Qualities

  • Highly Detailed Visual · 95%

    The birds, feathers, branches, leaves, flowers, and neck ornament are rendered with fine outlines and numerous small color and tonal transitions.

  • Highly Ornamented Visual · 94%

    The vase combines naturalistic bird and floral imagery with repeated scrolling borders, floral registers, and ornamental bands around the neck and shoulder.

Medium and Techniques

  • Glass and Ceramics Both · 98%

    The work is a glazed ceramic vessel with enamel decoration, and the catalog specifies porcelain and polychrome enamels.

Time Periods

  • 18th Century Art Metadata · 99%

    The catalog dates the vase to 1736–95, within the eighteenth century.

Geographic Regions

  • Chinese Art Metadata · 99%

    The catalog classifies the work as Chinese Art and locates its production at the Jingdezhen kilns in Jiangxi province, China.

Materials

  • Porcelain Metadata · 99%

    The museum identifies the medium specifically as porcelain painted in polychrome enamels over transparent glaze.

Tableware, Vessels, and Objects

  • Vase Both · 99%

    The object is visibly a bottle-shaped decorative vessel with a rounded body, narrow neck, and foot, and the catalog identifies it as a vase.

Source & rights

Unknown artist. Vase with Golden Pheasants. Cleveland Museum of Art.