Planter with impressed character yi (one)

Planter: large with globular bowl, high neck, flaring mouth and bold spreading foot. Five perforations in base. Numeral i (one) incised. Wooden stand.
Clay: fine, hard, grayish.
Glaze: blue and lavender with white overflow; olive on rim and foot. Crackled. “Earth worm markings.”

Historical period(s)
Probably Ming dynasty, or possibly Yuan dynasty, Probably early 15th century, possibly second half of the 14th century
Medium
Stoneware with Jun glaze
Style
Jun ware
Dimensions
H x Diam: 25.6 × 27.2 cm (10 1/16 × 10 11/16 in)
Geography
China, Henan province, Yuxian, Juntai
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1907.38a-b
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Planter

Keywords
China, Jun ware, Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644), Numbered Jun ware, stoneware, Yuan dynasty (1279 - 1368)
Provenance

To 1907
Unidentified owner, China, to 1907 [1]

From 1907 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased in China from an unidentified owner in 1907 [2]

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Pottery List, L. 1490, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[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)

Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919

Description

Planter: large with globular bowl, high neck, flaring mouth and bold spreading foot. Five perforations in base. Numeral i (one) incised. Wooden stand.
Clay: fine, hard, grayish.
Glaze: blue and lavender with white overflow; olive on rim and foot. Crackled. "Earth worm markings."

Label

This planter shows the thick, opalescent blue glaze that distinguishes Jun ware. Five holes in the base indicate its intended use as a planter; it once rested in a matching shallow saucer. The number "one" is incised on the base--one being the largest of ten sizes. The numbers are presumably for ease of matching containers and saucers. Dating of Numbered Jun wares is controversial. The most likely date is early 15th century, with the objects having been made for the Ming court that was newly built in Beijing, but a date in the second half of the 14th century cannot be absolutely ruled out.  

Published References
  • James J. Lally. Collecting Chinese Ceramics in America: Morgan and Freer. vol. 73 London, 2008-2009. cover, fig. 11.
  • Dongqing Fan. Song Dynasty Yaozhou and Jun Wares in the Freer Gallery of Art. vol. 42, no. 3. pl. 7.
  • Oriental Ceramics: The World's Great Collections. 12 vols., Tokyo. vol. 10, pl. 18.
  • The Horizon Book of the Arts of China. New York. .
  • Sigisbert Chrétien Bosch Reitz. Catalogue of an Exhibition of Early Chinese Pottery and Sculpture. Exh. cat. New York. fig. 119.
  • Frank Forest Bunker. China and Japan. Philadelphia. p. 35.
  • Jan Stuart. Guiding Luminaries Charles Lang Freer and John A. Pope: the Freer Gallery of Art's Chinese Ceramic Collection. vol. 85 London. p. 113, fig. 5.
  • Hamilton Bell. Imperial Sung Pottery. vol. 1, no. 3 New York. p. 189, fig. 29.
  • Thomas Lawton, Linda Merrill. Freer: a legacy of art. Washington and New York, 1993. p. 219, fig. 150.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
The Story of the Beautiful
Google Cultural Institute
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