Ding ware dish with foliate rim and carved decoration of lotuses

Dish: low circular; extended rim, notched to give eight-petal form.
Clay: dense, white, resonant.
Glaze: lustrous cream-white, with brownish flow on the exterior. Rim unglazed.
Decoration: carved and incised in the paste, under glaze. Lotus blossoms, seed pod, and leaves.

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Historical period(s)
Jin dynasty, 12th century
Medium
Porcelain with transparent ivory-toned glaze
Style
Ding ware
Dimensions
H x Diam (overall): 3.1 x 26.4 cm (1 1/4 x 10 3/8 in)
Geography
China, Hebei province, Ding kilns
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1917.401
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Dish

Keywords
China, Ding ware, Jin dynasty (1115 - 1234), lotus, porcelain
Provenance

To 1917
You Xiaoxi, Shanghai, to 1917 [1]

From 1917 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from You Xiaoxi, Shanghai in 1917 [2]

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Pottery List, L. 2574, 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
You Xiaoxi (C.L. Freer source) late 19th-early 20th century

Description

Dish: low circular; extended rim, notched to give eight-petal form.
Clay: dense, white, resonant.
Glaze: lustrous cream-white, with brownish flow on the exterior. Rim unglazed.
Decoration: carved and incised in the paste, under glaze. Lotus blossoms, seed pod, and leaves.

Label

This Ding-ware dish with a wide, flat surface and flanged rim was formed in a mold. The dish bears a carved motif based on the lotus, incorporating blossoms and leaves pivoting in gentle symmetry around a single seed-pod in the center. The flanged rim has been pressed in at eight places to create a foliate outline, and the flange is decorated with incised spiral scrolls. The upturned edge of the rim, on which the dish rested for firing, is unglazed and may once have been concealed by a metal binding.

Published References
  • Kobayashi Tai'ichiro. Toso no hakuji [T'ang and Sung white wares]. Toki zenshu, no. 12 Tokyo. pl. 39.
  • Hai wai i chen [Chinese Art in Overseas Collections]. Taipei, 1985. vol. 3: p. 87.
  • Oriental Ceramics: The World's Great Collections. 12 vols., Tokyo. vol. 10, pl. 25.
  • Toki Zenshu. 32 vols., Tokyo, 1957 - 1963. pl. 39.
  • Grace Dunham Guest. Chinese Porcelain at the Freer Gallery of Art. vol. 20, no. 1 Columbus, Ohio, January 1941. p. 23, fig. 3.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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