{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O77874"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O77874/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AM7021/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AM7021/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AM7021","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O77874/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O77874","accessionNumber":"C.1869-1921","objectType":"Bottle","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"<b>Object Type</b><br>This Chinese bottle is made from porcelain, a substance much coveted for its hardness and translucency. When this piece was made around 1600, the techniques of porcelain manufacture were unknown in Europe. The method of decoration, too, was novel. The motifs were painted onto the bottle before the glaze was applied. The deep-blue cobalt colouring being a perennial favourite in both China and the West.<br><br><b>People</b><br>Most artefacts traded from China were made by anonymous craftsmen and women. There was, however, an interesting development in China around the time that this bottle was made, namely the appearance of signatures on a broad range of craft products. It has been suggested that the Chinese elite, who increasingly purchased such items, wanted some sort of fixed standard as a buying guide.<br><br><b>Design & Designing</b><br>This bottle was made at the huge manufacturing plant of Jingdezhen, the largest complex of its kind in the world at the time. Ceramics were produced there in a wide range of shapes informed both by practical needs and a delight in the fantastic. This bottle is in the form of a gourd, a large fleshy fruit which can itself  be used as a container when the pulp is scooped out and the skin dried.","physicalDescription":"Bottle of porcelain, gourd-form, painted around the bottom half with animals and floral motufs in panels. Around the top, panels containing objects and floral motifs. ","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"porcelain","id":"AAT10662"}],"techniques":[{"text":"painting (image-making)","id":"AAT54216"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Porcelain, decorated in underglaze cobalt blue","categories":[{"text":"Vases","id":"THES48879"},{"text":"Ceramics","id":"THES48982"},{"text":"Porcelain","id":"THES48907"}],"styles":[{"text":"Wanli","id":"AAT18465"},{"text":"Chinese export","id":"AAT120350"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"EAS","id":"THES48596"},"images":["2006AM7021"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"56E","id":"THES49241"},"free":"","case":"CA1","shelf":"","box":"11"}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Bottle","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Jingdezhen","id":"x32230"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1573-1619","earliest":"1573-01-01","latest":"1619-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"32.1","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Diameter","value":"17","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Dimensions checked: Measured; 07/07/1999 by DW","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Made at Jingdezhen in Jiangxi Province, China","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Bottle, porcelain painted in underglaze blue, China, Jingdezhen, Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), 1573-1619\r\n","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"British Galleries:\nThis bottle is typical of 'kraak' porcelain, named after the ships (carracks, or kraaks in Dutch) that carried the porcelain to Europe in the early 1600s.  Porcelain was no longer an exquisite rarity but was becoming increasingly common in wealthy households.","date":{"text":"27/03/2003","earliest":"2003-03-27","latest":"2003-03-27"}}],"partNumbers":["C.1869-1921"],"accessionNumberNum":"1869","accessionNumberPrefix":"C","accessionYear":1921,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2019LR1858","2019LP1356","2019LV5610"],"recordModificationDate":"2025-11-14","recordCreationDate":"2003-03-27","availableToBook":false}}