Vase
This elegant vase has a pear-shaped body with a squarish section, supported on a short splayed foot. Two handles in the shape of animal masks are attached to the sides of its neck, which is embellished with a band of stylized dragons inlaid in silver. On both the front and reverse sides of the vase is a line of poetry by the Tang-dynasty poet Dou Chang (746–825), also inlaid in silver, which reads: Sweeping the snow to plant flowers in the spring; burning the incense to read the classics at night. On the other two sides are silver-inlaid images of an egret and a three-legged toad, which is a symbol of wealth. A two-character mark of Shisou is executed in silver inlay on the exterior of the bottom. The vase is covered with a warm brown patina that bears no trace of being buried underground. Originally, this vessel would have served as a vase for flowers or for holding tongs and spatulas for the practice of incense burning.
Artwork Details
- 清 石叟款銅錯銀絲詩文方壺
- Title: Vase
- Artist: Attributed to Shisou (Chinese, active 18th–19th century)
- Period: Qing dynasty (1644–1911)
- Date: 18th–19th century
- Culture: China
- Medium: Copper alloy
- Dimensions: H. 5 1/4 in. (13.3 cm); W. 2 1/2 in. (6.4 cm); D. 2 5/16 in. (5.9 cm)
- Classification: Metalwork
- Credit Line: Purchase, Seymour Fund, Barbara and Sorrell Mathes Gift, and various donors, 2015
- Object Number: 2015.273
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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China
China
1713–22
China
late 7th–early 8th century
China (Xinjiang Autonomous Region, Central Asia)
8th century
China
dated 524 (5th year of Zhengguang reign)
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