Jizhou ware bottle with resist decoration of flowering plum branch

Jar: ovoidal, with small neck, high bulbous shoulder, glazed base recessed inside foot. Bearing surface of foot rough, chipped, unglazed. Entire neck & lip restored, probably not original form.
Clay: near-white porcellaneous stoneware.
Glaze: dark brown iron-type, low lustre, crazed, also thin transparent glaze wash over white body in decorated areas only.
Decoration: 2 large prunus sprays reserved in brown glaze ground, details brush-painted in brown.

Historical period(s)
Southern Song or Yuan dynasty, 13th century
Medium
Stoneware with iron-rich pigment, dark and colorless glazes (neck shortened and repaired)
Style
Jizhou ware
Dimensions
H x W: 18 x 12.6 cm (7 1/16 x 4 15/16 in)
Geography
China, Jiangxi province, Jizhou kilns
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1915.154
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Vase

Keywords
China, flower, Jizhou ware, plum blossom, Southern Song dynasty (1127 - 1279), stoneware, Yuan dynasty (1279 - 1368)
Provenance

To 1915
Abel William Bahr (1877-1959), New York, NY, to 1915 [1]

From 1915 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Abel William Bahr, New York, in 1915 [2]

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Pottery List, L. 2446, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Abel William Bahr (1877-1959) was a collector and dealer born in Shanghai, China. After he left Shanghai in 1910, he lived, at various points in time, in London, Montreal, and Ridgefield, Connecticut. He established a gallery in New York City in 1920.

[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
Abel William Bahr (C.L. Freer source) 1877-1959

Description

Jar: ovoidal, with small neck, high bulbous shoulder, glazed base recessed inside foot. Bearing surface of foot rough, chipped, unglazed. Entire neck & lip restored, probably not original form.
Clay: near-white porcellaneous stoneware.
Glaze: dark brown iron-type, low lustre, crazed, also thin transparent glaze wash over white body in decorated areas only.
Decoration: 2 large prunus sprays reserved in brown glaze ground, details brush-painted in brown.

Published References
  • Oriental Ceramics: The World's Great Collections. 12 vols., Tokyo. vol. 10, pl. 73.
  • Sigisbert Chrétien Bosch Reitz. Catalogue of an Exhibition of Early Chinese Pottery and Sculpture. Exh. cat. New York. fig. 5.
  • Jan Wirgin. Some Ceramic Wares from Chi-chou. vol. 34 Stockholm. p. 60.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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