Bottle

Bottle. Recessed base.
Clay: hard, fine. Light gray on surface.
Glaze: mottled dark-brown on lower body; brilliant blue-black on upper body, over brown. Both, iridescent.

Historical period(s)
Ming dynasty, 1368-1644
Medium
Stoneware with iron glaze applied in three layers
Dimensions
H x Diam: 19.1 × 10.8 cm (7 1/2 × 4 1/4 in)
Geography
China
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1905.55
On View Location
Freer Gallery 12: The Peacock Room Comes to America
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Bottle

Keywords
China, Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644), stoneware, Tamba ware
Provenance

To 1905
Thomas E. Waggaman (1839-1906), Washington, DC, to 1905 [1]

From 1905 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased at the sale of the Waggaman Collection, American Art Association, New York, NY, January 25-February 3, 1905, no. 1914 [2]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

Notes:

[1] See Original Pottery List, L. 1368, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Also see Curatorial Remark 10, Louise Cort, June 17, 2008, in the object record.

[2] See note 1.

[3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Thomas E. Waggaman 1839-1906
Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919
American Art Association (C.L. Freer source) established 1883

Description

Bottle. Recessed base.
Clay: hard, fine. Light gray on surface.
Glaze: mottled dark-brown on lower body; brilliant blue-black on upper body, over brown. Both, iridescent.

Label

This bottle was identified as Jian ware, from Fujian province, and dated to the Song dynasty when Charles Freer bought it. More recently it has been reidentified as a utilitarian bottle from a kiln somewhere in northern China, and as dating to the Ming dynasty (or later).

Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
The Story of the Beautiful
Google Cultural Institute
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