The Department of Asian Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art is celebrating a historic acquisition: the donation of a pair of exceptionally rare, perfectly preserved Ming Dynasty porcelain vases. Gifted by a private collector based in Hong Kong, these masterpieces represent the absolute pinnacle of 15th-century Chinese ceramic production.
The vases, standing over two feet tall, date to the reign of the Xuande Emperor (1425–1435), a period widely considered by art historians to be the golden age of blue-and-white porcelain. They feature an incredibly complex, continuous underglaze cobalt blue design depicting a fierce, five-clawed imperial dragon writhing amidst stylized clouds and crashing waves.
What makes this pair truly extraordinary is their pristine, flawless condition. Finding a single large-scale vessel from the Xuande period without significant firing flaws, cracks, or later repairs is exceptionally rare; finding a perfectly matched pair in this condition is virtually unheard of. The vibrancy of the cobalt blue, often described as 'heaped and piled' due to its intense, saturated concentration, is breathtaking.
The provenance of the vases is as fascinating as their craftsmanship. Extensive documentary evidence traces their lineage back to the Imperial Palace in Beijing. They were subsequently gifted to a high-ranking Tibetan lama in the late 16th century, remaining in a remote Himalayan monastery for over three hundred years before entering the international art market in the early 20th century.
The Ming Dynasty vases are now the undeniable focal point of the museum's newly redesigned Chinese Ceramics gallery. They are displayed in a state-of-the-art, freestanding, anti-reflective glass vitrine that allows visitors to closely examine the incredibly fluid, masterful brushwork and the pristine, luminous quality of the porcelain glaze from every angle.
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For more information or to request high-resolution images, please contact the Communications Department at communications@metmuseum.org.