Bowl

Tea-bowl: deep, flaring on low foot. Repaired rim.
Clay: hard, dark.
Glaze: purplish-black, dappled with silvery flecks.

Historical period(s)
Northern Song or Southern Song dynasty, 12th century
Medium
Stoneware with iron-pigmented glaze
Style
Jian ware
Dimensions
H x W: 8.8 x 19.2 cm (3 7/16 x 7 9/16 in)
Geography
China, Fujian province
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1909.369
On View Location
Freer Gallery 15: Setting the Bar: Arts of the Song Dynasty
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Bowl

Keywords
brown and black glaze, China, Jian ware, Northern Song dynasty (960 - 1127), oil spot glaze, Southern Song dynasty (1127 - 1279), stoneware, tea
Provenance

To 1909
Shinsuke Hayashi, Kyoto to 1909 [1]

From 1909 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Shinsuke Hayashi, Kyoto in 1909 [2]

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Pottery List, L. 2038, 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)

Shinsuke Hayashi (C.L. Freer source)
Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919

Description

Tea-bowl: deep, flaring on low foot. Repaired rim.
Clay: hard, dark.
Glaze: purplish-black, dappled with silvery flecks.

Label

This bowl is larger than the typical tea bowl, and its exact use remains unclear. Some teas of this period were prepared with scallions, ginger, orange peel, jujubes, and other solid ingredients that may have made a larger bowl desirable.

Published References
  • Koyama Fujio. Tenmoku. Toji Taki, vol. 38 Tokyo. 38 and 39.
  • Sir John Figgess, John Ayers, Ann Paludan, Peter Hardie, James J. Lally. Transactions of the Oriental Ceramics Society (1955-1957). Transactions of the Oriental Ceramics Society, vol. 30, pl. 95 London. Cover and fig. 1 (vol. 73).
  • Hai wai i chen [Chinese Art in Overseas Collections]. Taipei, 1985. vol. 3: p. 105.
  • Oriental Ceramics: The World's Great Collections. 12 vols., Tokyo. vol. 10, pl. 71.
  • Mayuyama Junkichi. Obei shuzo chugoku toji zuroku [Chinese Ceramics in the West]. Tokyo. pl. 47.
  • Sadajiro Yamanaka. To-so seikwa [Selected Relics of T'ang and Sung Dynasties from Collections in Europe and America]. Osaka, 1928-1929. vol. 2, pl. 26.
  • Sigisbert Chrétien Bosch Reitz. Catalogue of an Exhibition of Early Chinese Pottery and Sculpture. Exh. cat. New York. fig. 236.
  • Dr. John Alexander Pope, Thomas Lawton, Harold P. Stern. The Freer Gallery of Art. 2 vols., Washington and Tokyo, 1971-1972. cat. 94, vol. 1: p. 174.
  • Grace Dunham Guest, Archibald Gibson Wenley. Annotated Outlines of the History of Chinese Arts. Washington, 1949. p. 9.
  • Grace Dunham Guest. Chinese Porcelain at the Freer Gallery of Art. vol. 20, no. 1 Columbus, Ohio, January 1941. p. 23, fig. 4.
  • Masterpieces of Chinese and Japanese Art: Freer Gallery of Art handbook. Washington, 1976. p. 70.
  • Jan Stuart. Guiding Luminaries Charles Lang Freer and John A. Pope: the Freer Gallery of Art's Chinese Ceramic Collection. vol. 85 London. p. 116, fig. 10.
  • Robert L. Hobson. Chinese Pottery and Porcelain: An Account of the Potter's Art in China from Primitive Times to the Present Day. 2 vols., New York and London. p. 131, fig. 1, pl. 42.
  • Thomas Lawton. China's Artistic Legacy. vol. 118, no. 258 London, August 1983. p. 133.
  • Thomas Lawton, Linda Merrill. Freer: a legacy of art. Washington and New York, 1993. p. 219, fig. 150.
  • Garrett Chatfield Pier. Some Examples of Sung Pottery Recently on Exhibition in New York. vol. 2, no. 3 New York, April 1914. p. 227, fig. 6.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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