Meiping

A meiping (Chinese: 梅瓶; pinyin: méipíng; lit. 'plum vase') is a type of vase in Chinese ceramics.[1] It is traditionally used to display branches of plum blossoms.[1][2] The meiping was first made of stoneware during the Tang dynasty (618–907).[3] It was originally used as a wine vessel, but since the Song dynasty (960–1279) it also became popular as a plum vase and got its name "meiping".[4] It is tall, with a narrow base spreading gracefully into a wide body, followed by a sharply-rounded shoulder, a short and narrow neck, and a small opening.[2][4][5]

They may have lids, and many lids have no doubt been lost. The equivalent shape in Korean ceramics, where it was derived from Chinese examples, is called a Maebyeong. A distinct variant is the "truncated meiping", where there is only the top half of the usual shape, giving a squat vase with a wide bottom. This is largely restricted to Cizhou ware.[6]

  • Cizhou ware, 13th century, Song dynasty
    Cizhou ware, 13th century, Song dynasty
  • Lidded vase with lotus sprays, Qingbai ware, Southern Song period
    Lidded vase with lotus sprays, Qingbai ware, Southern Song period
  • Yaozhou ware, celadon, Song dynasty
    Yaozhou ware, celadon, Song dynasty
  • Vase with horizontal ribs, Southern Song period
    Vase with horizontal ribs, Southern Song period
  • Vase with copper-red underglaze, Ming dynasty
    Vase with copper-red underglaze, Ming dynasty
  • 18th-century vase
    18th-century vase
  • Porcelain, Jingdezhen ware, painted with cobalt blue under transparent glaze, 15th century
    Porcelain, Jingdezhen ware, painted with cobalt blue under transparent glaze, 15th century
  • Meiping vase, Chinese, Ming Dynasty, 16th century CE. Arabic inscription. Porcelain with underglaze blue and small touches of overglaze enamel. Burrell Collection, Glasgow, UK
    Meiping vase, Chinese, Ming Dynasty, 16th century CE. Arabic inscription. Porcelain with underglaze blue and small touches of overglaze enamel. Burrell Collection, Glasgow, UK
  1. ^ a b Welch, Patricia Bjaaland (2008). Chinese art: a guide to motifs and visual imagery. North Clarendon: Tuttle Publishing. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-8048-3864-1.
  2. ^ a b "Prunus Vase (meiping)". Saint Louis Art Museum. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  3. ^ "Fire Gilded Silver #Item3755". TK Asian Antiquities. Archived from the original on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  4. ^ a b "Meiping". Musée Guimet. Archived from the original on 30 September 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  5. ^ "meiping". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  6. ^ Osborne, Harold (ed), The Oxford Companion to the Decorative Arts, p. 189, 1975, OUP, ISBN 0198661134