Meiping

A meiping ({{zh|s=梅瓶|t=梅瓶|p=méipíng|l=plum vase}}) is a type of vase in Chinese ceramics. It is traditionally used to display branches of plum blossoms.{{cite book|last=Welch|first=Patricia Bjaaland|title=Chinese art: a guide to motifs and visual imagery|year=2008|publisher=Tuttle Publishing|location=North Clarendon|isbn=978-0-8048-3864-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/chineseartguidet0000welc/page/17 17]|url=https://archive.org/details/chineseartguidet0000welc |url-access=registration}}{{cite web|title=Prunus Vase (meiping)|url=http://www.slam.org/asia/works/06.html|publisher=Saint Louis Art Museum|accessdate=17 August 2011}} The meiping was first made of stoneware during the Tang dynasty (618–907).{{cite web|title=Fire Gilded Silver #Item3755|url=http://www.tkasian.com/pages/metals/silver/3755/3755intro.html|publisher=TK Asian Antiquities|accessdate=22 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331012701/http://www.tkasian.com/pages/metals/silver/3755/3755intro.html|archive-date=31 March 2012|url-status=dead}} It was originally used as a wine vessel, but since the Song dynasty (960–1279) it also became popular as a plum vase and got its name "meiping".{{cite web |title=Meiping |url=http://www.guimet.fr/spip.php?page=mot&id_mot=283&id_article=9 |publisher=Musée Guimet |accessdate=18 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930122645/http://www.guimet.fr/spip.php?page=mot&id_mot=283&id_article=9 |archive-date=30 September 2011 |url-status=dead }} It is tall, with a narrow base spreading gracefully into a wide body, followed by a sharply-rounded shoulder, a short and narrow neck, and a small opening.{{cite web|title=meiping|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/373257/meiping|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica|accessdate=17 August 2011}}

They may have lids, and many lids have no doubt been lost. The equivalent shape in Korean ceramics, where it was derived from Chinese examples, is called a Maebyeong. A distinct variant is the "truncated meiping", where there is only the top half of the usual shape, giving a squat vase with a wide bottom. This is largely restricted to Cizhou ware.Osborne, Harold (ed), The Oxford Companion to the Decorative Arts, p. 189, 1975, OUP, {{ISBN|0198661134}}

File:Porcelain Vase.jpg|Cizhou ware, 13th century, Song dynasty

File:Lidded Prunus Vase (Meiping) with Lotus Sprays LACMA AC1999.38.6.1-.2.jpg|Lidded vase with lotus sprays, Qingbai ware, Southern Song period

File:耀州窑青釉刻花牡丹纹梅瓶.JPG|Yaozhou ware, celadon, Song dynasty

File:Prunus Vase (Meiping) with Horizontal Ribs LACMA AC1994.191.1.jpg|Vase with horizontal ribs, Southern Song period

File:Ming Dynasty-Octagonal Jar (Meiping) painted in copper-red underglaze.JPG|Vase with copper-red underglaze, Ming dynasty

File:Vase_meiping_Musée_Guimet_2418.jpg|18th-century vase

File:MET DP251192.jpg|Porcelain, Jingdezhen ware, painted with cobalt blue under transparent glaze, 15th century

File:Meiping vase, Chinese, Ming Dynasty, 16th century CE. Arabic inscription. Porcelain with underglaze blue and small touches of overglaze enamel. Burrell Collection, Glasgow, UK.jpg|Meiping vase, Chinese, Ming Dynasty, 16th century CE. Arabic inscription. Porcelain with underglaze blue and small touches of overglaze enamel. Burrell Collection, Glasgow, UK

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