David Veases Symbolism

2363 Words5 Pages

The David Vases are two porcelain vases which originate from China during the Yuan Dynasty. The two vases are known for being the two oldest blue and white vases in the world and date back to 1351. The vases, named after Sir Percival David, a British-Indian collector specializing in Chinese porcelain; famed for having the world's biggest Chinese porcelain collection, consisting of 1500 Chinese Ceramics. Although unknown where the vases ventured apart, they reunited in 1935 having their journey come to an end in London, England and since rest in the British Museum. The vases are made up of different cultural influences making it aesthetically unique; the deep navy blue influenced from Iranian art and the white porcelain from the Chinese artistic …show more content…

They were distributed all over the Middle East and Europe through the Silk Road. These features are the visual, cultural and spiritual aspects which makes these vases art. The incredible navy blue with the white background allows the symbols to be shown as a bold and vivid representation. The symbolism presented is deeply rooted into Daoist traditional beliefs bringing meaning to every symbol. This enables every artist being able to speak with his vase by using symbolism. The biggest symbols on the David Vases are the dragons found on the vase’s body; they stand for protection and safety. In an article by Matthew Kangas, he examines how Chinese artwork has stayed at the finest class of artwork for over 5000 years. He believes that this was a combination of making limited amounts of copies of vases, adding spiritual and ethical meaning to artwork and bringing interaction between patrons and potters. This formed the bigger part of such great advancement of Chinese art and created a better idea on how art is possibility to being defined. The vases speak for an entire generation of history and …show more content…

The vases historically, visually and culturally have a greater meaning than simply being an object. Historically, the vases were created at the time in heart of the Mongol Empire. They are an icon representing the historical events featuring the mass production of porcelain and their demand all over Europe and Asia. Today, they stand as a symbol representing the cultural shifts when they were made. Visually, the vases are beautiful; from top to bottom they are extremely detailed with fine precision. The neck of the vases has inscriptions written by the artist. They serve as a label which explains the name of the artist, the date of their making and the city where they were made in. Below, on the upper part of the two vases bodies clouds painted with phoenixes swooping down from the skies. Lower, the greater part of the vases bodies are painted in dragons painted with great detail and extreme precision. At the foot of the vase there are peony flowers painted going around the entire foot of the vase. The two vases are astounding with the great detail presented. On a cultural note, a Chinese potter, Zhang Wenjin created the vases in order for them to serve as an offering at a Daoist temple. The symbols featured on the vases have great cultural meaning to the beliefs and practices of Daoism. The dragons on the main part of the body stand as a symbol of strength and power. The vases were created to originally

Open Document