Bowl

Bowl: deep, with sloping everted rim. Glaze chips and spalling on lip. Foot-rim has some sandy grit which adhered during firing. Everted rim has some unevenness of thickness.

Clay: white porcelain; a few areas of orange iron oxidation on foot-rim.

Glaze: clear feldspathic porcelain glaze of medium gloss, some pitting and impurity inclusions. Slight wear scratches on inside of bottom, considerable pitting on glazed base. Foot-rim unglazed.

Decoration: painted in underglaze cobalt blue of good quality, line and wash. Central scene: three gentlemen and a servant at a picnic-style meal in a mountain landscape. Cavetto: a running landscape with western buildings (churches) and other foreign details as well as deer and Chinese figures. A band of conventionalized lotus petals divides cavetto and a similar mixed landscape on rim. Outside: cavetto, four oval medallions containing figures in landscape; rim, eight medallions alternating stylized birds and flowers.

Historical period(s)
Ming or Qing dynasty, 1635-1655
Medium
Porcelain with cobalt pigment under clear, colorless glaze
Style
Jingdezhen ware
Dimensions
H x W x D: 8.3 x 29.2 x 29.2 cm (3 1/4 x 11 1/2 x 11 1/2 in)
Geography
China, Jiangxi province, Jingdezhen
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1977.12
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Bowl

Keywords
China, cobalt pigment, flower, Jingdezhen ware, landscape, lotus, Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644), mountain, porcelain, Qing dynasty (1644 - 1911)
Provenance
Provenance research underway.
Description

Bowl: deep, with sloping everted rim. Glaze chips and spalling on lip. Foot-rim has some sandy grit which adhered during firing. Everted rim has some unevenness of thickness.

Clay: white porcelain; a few areas of orange iron oxidation on foot-rim.

Glaze: clear feldspathic porcelain glaze of medium gloss, some pitting and impurity inclusions. Slight wear scratches on inside of bottom, considerable pitting on glazed base. Foot-rim unglazed.

Decoration: painted in underglaze cobalt blue of good quality, line and wash. Central scene: three gentlemen and a servant at a picnic-style meal in a mountain landscape. Cavetto: a running landscape with western buildings (churches) and other foreign details as well as deer and Chinese figures. A band of conventionalized lotus petals divides cavetto and a similar mixed landscape on rim. Outside: cavetto, four oval medallions containing figures in landscape; rim, eight medallions alternating stylized birds and flowers.

Published References
  • Stephen Little. Chinese Ceramics of the Transitional Period, 1620-1683. Exh. cat. New York. fig. 11.
  • Julia Murray. A Decade of Discovery: Selected Acquisitions 1970-1980. Exh. cat. Washington, 1979. cat. 27, p. 37.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
SI Usage Statement

Usage Conditions Apply

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery welcome information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

citation | Save this image How to download an image | Request Permission | Terms of Use