One of the David Vases: altar-vase
- Gallery: Room 95
- Culture: Yuan dynasty
- Made in: Jingdezhen
- Date: 1351
- Object type: altar-vase
- Materials: porcelain
- Museum number: PDF,B.613
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
Listen to the free audio guide
About this object
Before you is one of the most famous porcelains in the world—One of the "David Vases." This large altar-vase was made in Yuan dynasty China, around AD 1351. It is decorated in underglaze blue, with a detailed scrolling dragon and a long inscription that records its donation. The vase is modeled after ancient bronze vessels, with elegant elephant-head handles.
Look closely at the detailed blue patterns—swirling clouds, peonies, and phoenixes in flight. The vase’s neck carries a written offering to a Daoist temple, detailing a man named Zhang Wenjin who gave it as a prayer for his family's peace and well-being.
Made in Jingdezhen, this vase marks a high point in Yuan dynasty blue-and-white porcelain, proving that the craft was already highly developed in the 14th century.
See it in person
One of the David Vases: altar-vase is on display in Room 95 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and take a photo of it to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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