Jar with Dragon Design
1700s
- Medium
- porcelain with underglaze blue
- Classification
- Ceramic
- Dimensions
- Diameter of base: 14.7 cm (5 13/16 in.); Overall: 39.5 cm (15 9/16 in.)
- Culture
- Korea, Joseon dynasty (1392–1910)
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Korean Art
- Credit line
- Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its subject is for older viewers (war, death, the Passion, drink or the like). How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
As a mythical creature believed to make rain, the dragon served as a symbol of rulers in premodern East Asia. Here, a cobalt blue dragon is depicted flying through clouds to catch a flaming, wish-granting jewel called a cintamani. In the royal court, the shorter type of dragon jar held wine, while the tall type, like this one, held flowers.
This porcelain once belonged to Robert W. Moore, who developed an interest in Korean art while serving in the US Army in South Korea during the 1950s and 1960s. Later, the CMA acquired this important work through an auction sale in 1986.
