Red and White Jar with a Dragon among Flames and Clouds, Yuan Dynasty

PP-0136

Description

A large red and white porcelain jar with a short straight neck, broad rounded shoulders and sides tapering to a wide flat base. The body is painted in underglaze copper red with a long, scaly dragon coiling round the jar, its spined back following the curve of the shoulder, its mane streaming behind the head. Tall, branching flames and cloud scrolls fill the ground around it, and a band of waves circles the foot. The red ranges from a soft pinkish tone to a deeper maroon where the brush pressed harder, on a creamy white ground.

The neck is painted with scrolls in red below a mouth rim dressed in dark brown, which runs down in drips over the neck. The flat base is unglazed, showing throwing rings and scattered white deposits on the clay.