Large vase with golden pastel verses and floral patterns on blue ground

The piece is a vase, and Famille-rose (fencai) porcelain is the technique that decides how it reads. The pattern is laid before firing, so the colour sits under a clear glaze, protected and luminous rather than painted on top.

A vase of this kind was made to be seen closely and from afar at once. The famille-rose (fencai) porcelain ground rewards the near view; the silhouette does the work across a room.

The Jin court understood porcelain as a statement of capacity. To fire a vase without a flaw was to prove the workshop, and behind it the state, could do the impossible reliably.

The famille-rose (fencai) porcelain vase is a quiet lesson in Chinese taste: control of fire first, beauty second, and the two arriving together. Sinocra carries the work, with more from The Palace Museum, in the shop.

Large vase with golden pastel verses and floral patterns on blue ground, The Palace Museum

Object details

NameLarge vase with golden pastel verses and floral patterns on blue ground (霁蓝地描金粉彩诗句花卉纹大瓶)
Artefact no.故00154673
TechniqueFamille-rose (fencai) porcelain (粉彩)
PeriodJin dynasty (1115-1234 CE)
CollectionThe Palace Museum, Beijing
SourcePalace Museum Digital Collection (数字文物库)

Image © The Palace Museum. View the original in the Palace Museum Digital Collection.

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