Yue ware ewer

Ewer, wheel-thrown with flaring mouth, handle formed as a double roll, straight-sided foot trimmed shallow inside; rough and chipped on edge of foot-rim, one chip on lip.
Clay: fine gray stoneware.
Glaze: celadon; thin, feldspathic, transparent pale olive-green, uneven coverage, a few areas on body and foot very thin and flaky on handle and lip. An uneven and very fine crackle or crazing occurs on well over half the vessel. Those areas are of light yellowish-green putty color, while the non-crazed areas are smooth and gray in appearance. Base unglazed.
Decoration: none.

Historical period(s)
Tang dynasty or Five Dynasties period, 9th-10th century
Medium
Stoneware with celadon glaze
Style
Yue ware
Dimensions
H x W: 17.1 x 13 cm (6 3/4 x 5 1/8 in)
Geography
China, Zhejiang Province
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1975.6
On View Location
Freer Gallery 12: The Peacock Room Comes to America
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Ewer

Keywords
China, Five Dynasties period (907 - 960), green glaze, stoneware, Tang dynasty (618 - 907), Yue ware
Provenance

To 1974
Oriental Art, Benjamin J. Stein, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. [1]

From 1974
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Oriental Art, Benjamin J. Stein, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. [2]

Notes:

[1] Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List after 1920, Collections Management Office.

[2] See note 1.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Oriental Art, Benjamin J. Stein

Description

Ewer, wheel-thrown with flaring mouth, handle formed as a double roll, straight-sided foot trimmed shallow inside; rough and chipped on edge of foot-rim, one chip on lip.
Clay: fine gray stoneware.
Glaze: celadon; thin, feldspathic, transparent pale olive-green, uneven coverage, a few areas on body and foot very thin and flaky on handle and lip. An uneven and very fine crackle or crazing occurs on well over half the vessel. Those areas are of light yellowish-green putty color, while the non-crazed areas are smooth and gray in appearance. Base unglazed.
Decoration: none.

Label

At numerous ninth- and tenth-century sites in countries as widely separated as Japan and Egypt, Yue ware similar to this ewer has been excavated in the company of the other major trade wares of the day-Chinese porcelain and Changsha ceramics and Persian blue-glazed earthenware.

Published References
  • Julia Murray. A Decade of Discovery: Selected Acquisitions 1970-1980. Exh. cat. Washington, 1979. cat. 20, p. 30.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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