Jar with four chrysanthemums above a lotus frieze

Persisting since the late Yuan, this shape was popular throughout the Ming dynasty. Yuan jars of this type, as demonstrated by specimens from the shipwreck at Xin'an Bay, have relatively shallow carved floral patterns and an arbitrary composition. Also, the friezes of lotus panels circling the lower portion are much looser than those on Yuan pieces (Ministry of Culture and Information 1983: pls. 42-3). An example in the Palace Museum collection, attributed to the Ming, features a four-fold composition and symmetrical design, a theme commonly seen in Ming ceramics. Its bottom, however, retains the typical Yuan treatment of cutting out a deep, empty area inside the foot.