- Provenance
- Provenance research underway.
- Description
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Blue and white.
Clay: fine white porcelain; crack in footrim.
Glaze: plain, transparent.
Decoration: in underglaze cobalt blue with floral designs reserved in white on blue ground. Six-character Hsuan-te mark in underglaze blue on base.
- Marking(s)
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Six-character Hsuan-te mark in underglaze blue on base.
- Label
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Fifteenth-century blue-and-white porcelains are among the most memorable and influential of all Chinese ceramics. A Yuan dynasty, fourteenth-century approach to creating a design in reserve against a solid background was revived to great effect in the Xuande reign. The cobalt decoration of the period often appears blue-black, as it does here in the dark washes that alternate with paler areas, and the cobalt sometimes takes on a slightly blurred or fuzzy texture. The sensibility of many porcelain decorations in the Xuande period, including this design, bear a close affinity to textile patterns and serves as a reminder of the close links among many of the Ming arts.
The unpainted motifs-lotuses outside and seasonal flowers inside-in their snowy brilliance reveal the Xuande potters' technical accomplishment in removing virtually all impurities from the clay. The hibiscus in the well of this bowl is associated with wishes for immortality in traditional Chinese lore.
- Published References
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- Oriental Ceramics: The World's Great Collections. 12 vols., Tokyo. vol. 10, pl. 163.
- Sekai toji zenshu [Catalogue of the World's Ceramics]. 16 vols, Tokyo, 1955-1958. vol. 11: pl. 58.
- Ming Porcelains in the Freer Gallery of Art. Washington, 1953. p. 16, figs. 7-8.
- Collection Area(s)
- Chinese Art
- Web Resources
- Google Cultural Institute
- SI Usage Statement
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CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)
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Usage Conditions Apply
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.
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International Image Interoperability Framework
FS-F1951.4a-b_001