Wine Jar with Lion-Head Handles
China, Yuan dynasty (1271–1368)
Porcelain, underglaze painted
The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund (1962.154)
cat. 193
[click on top image for full object view]

Artistic ideas, materials, and objects traveled across Asia in the Mongol period to the distant poles of the empire and beyond. This Chinese wine jar was probably made specifically for export to the west, possibly to Iran. Similarly, its visual motifs were transmitted to the west, where they were employed on Ilkhanid tiles, bowls, and jars.

The introduction and rise of blue-and-white porcelain in Yuan China is likely attributable to this fertile interaction: the Iranian cobalt ore was sent east to China, and highly sought after Chinese blue-and-white porcelains were exported west.

The cloud-collar motif appears on the shoulder of the jar and within the cloud collar motifs are soaring phoenixes set against a floral ground that circles the body.