A meiping (Chinese: 梅瓶; pinyin: méipíng; lit. 'plum vase') is a type of vase in Chinese ceramics.[1] It is traditionally used to display branches of plum blossoms.[1][2] The meiping was first made of stoneware during the Tang dynasty (618–907).[3] It was originally used as a wine vessel, but since the Song dynasty (960–1279) it also became popular as a plum vase and got its name "meiping".[4] It is tall, with a narrow base spreading gracefully into a wide body, followed by a sharply-rounded shoulder, a short and narrow neck, and a small opening.[2][4][5]
They may have lids, and many lids have no doubt been lost. The equivalent shape in Korean ceramics, where it was derived from Chinese examples, is called a Maebyeong. A distinct variant is the "truncated meiping", where there is only the top half of the usual shape, giving a squat vase with a wide bottom. This is largely restricted to Cizhou ware.[6]
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Cizhou ware, 13th century, Song dynasty -
Lidded vase with lotus sprays, Qingbai ware, Southern Song period -
Yaozhou ware, celadon, Song dynasty -
Vase with horizontal ribs, Southern Song period -
Vase with copper-red underglaze, Ming dynasty -
18th-century vase -
Porcelain, Jingdezhen ware, painted with cobalt blue under transparent glaze, 15th century -
Meiping vase, Chinese, Ming Dynasty, 16th century CE. Arabic inscription. Porcelain with underglaze blue and small touches of overglaze enamel. Burrell Collection, Glasgow, UK
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_with_Horizontal_Ribs_LACMA_AC1994.191.1.jpg)
_painted_in_copper-red_underglaze.JPG)
References edit
- ^ a b Welch, Patricia Bjaaland (2008). Chinese art: a guide to motifs and visual imagery. North Clarendon: Tuttle Publishing. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-8048-3864-1.
- ^ a b "Prunus Vase (meiping)". Saint Louis Art Museum. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
- ^ "Fire Gilded Silver #Item3755". TK Asian Antiquities. Archived from the original on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
- ^ a b "Meiping". Musée Guimet. Archived from the original on 30 September 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
- ^ "meiping". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
- ^ Osborne, Harold (ed), The Oxford Companion to the Decorative Arts, p. 189, 1975, OUP, ISBN 0198661134
External links edit
- A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics from The Metropolitan Museum of Art