Vase (Meiping), 1200s. Longquan region, Zhejiang, Southern Song dynasty. Green-glazed porcelaneous stoneware; height 23.5 cm. The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 1957.52. CC0.
The rings continue almost to the foot. They cross the broad shoulders of this Longquan vase, then follow the body as it narrows. Seen at the edge, each ridge makes a small interruption in the outline. Across the front, the same rings are softer, partly lost in the pale blue-green glaze.
The Cleveland Museum of Art dates the vase to the 13th century. It is just 23.5 cm tall, with a short neck and a small opening above those wide shoulders. This is the meiping profile: most of the width is high on the body, rather than gathered near the base.
The museum describes glaze applied in successive coats, each left to dry before the next, which became a thick, cloudy layer in the firing. Here, that softness has not quite smoothed away the ridges. Following one across the shoulder is easier than trying to take in the whole surface at once.
The View from Below
The underside photograph reveals a glazed hollow inside a ring of exposed reddish ceramic. Beyond the foot, the bands of the lower wall remain visible. When the vase stands upright, almost all of this disappears: only a narrow brown edge shows where the green ends.
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