Small covered wine pot or teapot 1662 - 1722

Editor: This delicate "Small Covered Wine Pot or Teapot" is made of earthenware and ceramic. Created sometime between 1662 and 1722 by an anonymous Chinese artist, it now resides at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I'm immediately struck by the intricate blue and white design, the repeating patterns, and, particularly, the crazing in the glaze which suggests age. How would you interpret this work through a formalist lens? Curator: Formally, one might appreciate this object's success using basic geometric forms--globes and cylinders. The roundness of the body plays off of the sharp curve of the handle, which seems almost calligraphic, mirroring the painterly brushstrokes that make up the motifs of vessels and stylized flora. The blue pigment further enhances this play between round and sharp. Tell me, does that contrast between form and painted image affect your reading of the vessel? Editor: It does. The contrast emphasizes the intentionality behind the art, how these images relate to one another. And it seems like the patterns and even that crazing emphasize the three-dimensionality, guiding the eye. How does the surface material affect the composition in your opinion? Curator: Notice the high contrast of smooth, bright surface with the intricate web of crackles—this is not a flaw but a conscious aesthetic choice which speaks to ideas about time and change. It also enriches our understanding of material as expressive and signifying meaning. What do you think? Editor: I agree, and appreciating the relationship between intention and form makes it easier to see beyond the purely decorative function of the pot and focus on its power as a sophisticated work of art. Curator: Exactly. I think by concentrating on the tangible qualities we appreciate more clearly how the vessel operates as an aesthetic object.