Jingdezhen Cobalt Dragon Crackle Shangping Vase

The rounded body and long flared neck of the Shangping form give the dragon room to rise. Cobalt-blue scales, cloud forms and breaking waves move across a pale crackle glaze, while the wide mouth lifts the profile above the fuller body.

The Palace Museum catalogues a Qing Tongzhi blue-and-white cloud-dragon Shangping vase and notes that the form first appeared during the Yongzheng reign for imperial presentation. Dragon-decorated examples were unusual beside the more familiar lotus-scroll versions. This Jingdezhen vase carries that distinguished reward-vase lineage into an all-over crackle surface and a sweeping dragon composition of its own.

In Chinese visual culture, the dragon brings authority, vitality, and auspicious power, while the Shangping form carries a history of recognition for honorable service. The Medium size works on a cabinet or side console; the broader 39 cm version gives that symbolism greater room presence. Each vase is supplied with a fitted wooden display stand.

• Material: Jingdezhen porcelain
• Origin: Jingdezhen, China
• Form: Shangping vase with a rounded body, long neck and flared mouth
• Surface: Pale crackle glaze
• Decoration: Cobalt-blue dragon, cloud forms and waves
• Medium height: 30 cm / 11.8 in
• Medium mouth diameter: 11 cm / 4.3 in
• Medium body diameter: 20 cm / 7.9 in
• Medium base diameter: 10 cm / 3.9 in
• Large height: 39 cm / 15.4 in
• Large mouth diameter: 16 cm / 6.3 in
• Large body diameter: 29 cm / 11.4 in
• Large base diameter: 15 cm / 5.9 in
• Included: One porcelain vase and one fitted wooden display stand
• Date: Contemporary