Skip to main content

Vessels: C.639A & B-1991

Object information

Awaiting location update

Maker(s)

Unknown

Entities

Categories

Description

Pair of tomb vessels. Porcelain, each covered with clear glaze encrusted with red dirt, and decorated with incised lotus petals and applied figures. Each vessel has a wide, cylindrical neck with horizontal rings on the inside made with a wheel. On the shoulders and the body are seven figures standing on an applied scroll band, incised with lotus petals. Each vessel tapers into a slightly everted foot with a recessed, flat base.
Vessel A has a wider neck. The seven figures surrounding the neck represent, two tomb guardians holding swords, and, five figures in robes holding with two hands, buttons of office which rest against their chins.
Vessel B has five figures in robes each holding (clockwise) animal heads: goat, monkey, chicken, dog and pig. The other two figures wear robes and perhaps represent the sun and moon.

Notes

History note: Purchased from Sotheby's, 12 July 1934, by Henry Scipio Reitlinger (d. 1950) for £6.5s.0d, Lot 15; the Reitlinger Trust, Maidenhead, from which transferred in 1991.

Legal notes

Bequeathed by H.S. Reitlinger, 1950; transferred from the Reitlinger Trust, 1991

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1950) by Reitlinger, Henry Scipio

Dating

Northern Song (960-1127)
Circa 960 - 1127

Components of the work

Vessel A Diameter 17.7 cm Height 25.3 cm
Vessel B Diameter 17.7 cm Height 26.1 cm
Decoration

Materials used in production

Glaze
Porcelain

Techniques used in production

Glazing (coating) : Porcelain, each covered with clear glaze encrusted with red dirt, decorated with incised and applied decoration

Related exhibitions

Identification numbers

Accession number: C.639A & B-1991
Primary reference Number: 21017
Old object number: CHICER/274 (2)
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Wednesday 11 January 2023 Last processed: Friday 8 December 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Vessels" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/21017 Accessed: 2024-03-28 22:23:48

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/21017 |title=Vessels |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-03-28 22:23:48|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-21017

More objects and works of art you might like

In plain sight, I – III

Accession Number: C.1.1-23-2014

Clay bowl

Accession Number: E.17.1909

Seascape; several vessels on a calm sea

Accession Number: 31.K.12-34

Bucchero vessels

Accession Number: GR.3.1935

Suggested products from Curating Cambridge

You might be interested in this...

Sign up for updates

Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...