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Inscription

in standard script on the base in underglaze blue in two vertical lines of three characters each: Da Qing Kangxi nian zhi (made in the Kangxi reign of the great Qing dynasty)

Provenance

Thomas B. Clarke [1848-1931], New York; sold to Peter A. B. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; inheritance of Estate of Peter A. B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; gift 1942 to NGA.

Exhibition History

1907
Loan Exhibition of Rare Chinese Porcelains in Aid of Various Charities, Duveen Brothers, New York, 1907, no. 365.

Technical Summary

This vessel is quite even in color except for a small cloudlike form of slightly lighter colored glaze on the shoulder. A few pinholes are visible, but there are fewer dark spots than on the other vases of this type in the National Gallery collection. The reignmark in a medium blue is clearly visible under the colorless glaze applied to the base. The unglazed foot is smooth and slightly soiled.

Bibliography

1907
Loan Exhibition of Rare Chinese Porcelains in Aid of Various Charities. Exh. cat. Duveen Brothers, New York, 1907: no. 365 [page number given incorrectly as 202 in published NGA systematic catalogue; should be p. 203].
1942
Works of Art from the Widener Collection. Foreword by David Finley and John Walker. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 20.
1947
Christensen, Erwin O. Chinese Porcelains of the Widener Collection. Washington, 1947 (rev. ed. 1956): 30; 1956, 30.
1998
Bower, Virginia, Josephine Hadley Knapp, Stephen Little, and Robert Wilson Torchia. Decorative Arts, Part II: Far Eastern Ceramics and Paintings; Persian and Indian Rugs and Carpets. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1998: 77-80, color repro.

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