Covered Vessel (Ping)

China

About 1920

  • Titles Covered Vessel (Ping) (Descriptive)
  • Artist China
  • Medium jade, wood base
  • Dimensions 14 × 6 × 1 1/2 in. (35.6 × 15.2 × 3.8 cm)
  • Credit Line Collection of the Art Fund, Inc. at the Birmingham Museum of Art; Catherine H. Collins Collection, AFI.590.1998a-c
  • Work Type vessel with cover and base
  • Classification Containers

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Bowl, Afghanistan, glazed low-fire ceramic
A fish pattern, the pervasive theme of this oval tray, comes from the symbol of the Nawebro of Oudh, and it was frequently used by local Oudh silversmiths in border decorations. The fish make their first appearance on the fluted and beaded rim. They appear again, in a stylized the border on the inside portion of the tray, and, finally, the theme is alluded to yet a third time, in the ground of the landscape in the center: not fish this time, but as a cross-hatching pattern of large fish scales. The inner portion of the tray depicts a highly detailed and typical Lucknow jungle scene, with elephants, tigers, lions, and other animals; palm trees; and a large haveli surrounded by huts. This heavy-gauge silver is the répoussé and chased work most favored by Muslim patrons.
Landscape, Attributed to Wen Dou, ink on mica ground paper
Wearing the unadorned hairstyle of an ascetic and notably without jewelry she has four hands: the upper right holding a rosary, the upper left holding a sickle, the lower right making a boon-granting gesture. The lowered left holding a water pot with a handle. Her lion stands to her right. A doe rests beneath a buck at her left. A radiating mandorla radiates like flower peals behind. Her sari clings to her body. Her eyes are wide open with a slight smile. Damage to the face and left breast as well as the two upper hands.