Square Flower-Shaped Washer
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Object Label
This small brush washer was used in a scholar’s studio. The blue-green color of the vessel was made to look like ancient ritual jades; the artistic reference was a political statement for Confucian scholars yearning for the golden ages of the Chinese past, during a time when the Mongols were ruling the country. Guan ware is notable for the crackled pattern created when the thick glaze and the dark clay body of the ceramic cool at different rates. The term guan means “official” and refers to the Confucian scholar-officials at the imperial court who ran the political bureaucracy and favored this type of ceramic.
Caption
Square Flower-Shaped Washer, 1271–1368. Ceramic, glaze, 1 1/2 × 3 1/2 × 3 in. (3.8 × 8.9 × 7.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Samuel P. Avery, by exchange, 53.51. Creative Commons-BY
Collection
Collection
Title
Square Flower-Shaped Washer
Date
1271–1368
Dynasty
Yuan-Ming Dynasty
Period
Yuan to Ming Dynasty
Geography
Place made: Southern, China
Medium
Ceramic, glaze
Classification
Dimensions
1 1/2 × 3 1/2 × 3 in. (3.8 × 8.9 × 7.6 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Samuel P. Avery, by exchange
Accession Number
53.51
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
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