Art Institute of Chicago

Vase Depicting a Phoenixlike Bird

Talavera poblana

Date

1700–50

Medium

Tin-glazed earthenware

Culture

Puebla

Department

Arts of the Americas

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Chinese blue-and-white porcelain arrived in the Americas during the 1570s, when the Manila Galleons began crossing the Pacific Ocean from Mexico to the Spanish Philippines and back. Cargoes of Asian luxury goods landing at Acapulco were transshipped to Colonial Mexico City and Puebla, where they remained until shipment continued across the Atlantic Ocean to Seville. A thriving ceramic industry developed in Puebla, producing glazed earthenware imitating porcelain and freely adapting Chinese designs, often with humorous vitality. This vase of Chinese shape displays panels with phoenix-like birds framed by dot-and-leaf patterns, scrolled tendrils, and semicircular “Chinese asters” beneath a cloudlike canopy. Floral bands on the shoulder and footing of the jar similarly reflect decorations derived from blue-and-white export porcelain.

The authoritative record is held by Art Institute of Chicago. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.