Basin (i or yi) with two animal-head lugs

Basin (i or yi) with two animal-head lugs. Wheel-thrown bowl with everted sides opening somewhat irregularly and curving inward below rim. Rim slightly flattened. Spiral throwing-mark on bottom, pronounced horizontal throwing marks on walls. String-cut flat base.Trimming on lower wall. At one place on lower wall, series of seven vertical indentations, parallel to one another but irregularly spaced–possibly scars from careless trimming.

Clay: dense, fine stoneware; reddish on exposed surfaces; gray on interior, yellow-brown on exterior where originally covered by glaze.

Glaze: pale yellow-green applied ash glaze, orginally covering interior and most of exterior wall except near base and bottom. Glaze almost entirely lost. Shadow of glaze drips around rim on outside, one long drip running onto base, fingerprints and smudges.

Decoration: On opposite shoulders just below rim, two hand-modeled animal-head “lug” appliques with “ring handles,” the pointed muzzles and curled horns suggestive of ram’s heads.

Historical period(s)
Eastern Zhou dynasty, 480-221 BCE
Medium
Stoneware with traces of wood-ash glaze
Dimensions
H x W x D: 11.6 x 26.7 x 26.7 cm (4 9/16 x 10 1/2 x 10 1/2 in)
Geography
China
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1985.39
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Basin

Keywords
China, Eastern Zhou dynasty (770 - 221 BCE), stoneware
Provenance

To ?
J.E. Melchior collection, Shanghai. [1]

To 1982
Helen Dalling Ling (d. 1982), Shanghai and Singapore. [2]

From 1982 to 1985
Dr. Tien Gi Ling, Singapore, by bequest from his wife, Helen Dalling Ling on May 1982. [3]

From 1985
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Dr. Tien Gi Ling, Singapore. [4]

Notes:

[1] According to Dr. Tien Gi Ling, Mrs. Helen D. Ling acquired the object from the J.E. Melchior Collection in Shanghai.

[2] Helen Dalling Ling operated "The Green Dragon" antiques shop in Shanghai from 1938 to 1950 and a shop under her own name in Singapore from 1951 until her death in 1982.

[3] Helen Dalling Ling left a bequest to her husband, Dr. Tien Gi Ling on May 1982.

[4] Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List after 1920 file, Collections Management Office. According to the Purchase List, the object was brought in by Mr. Tien Ling's son, Dr. James Ling of Bethesda, Maryland.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Mr. Tien Gi Ling
Helen D. Ling died 1982
J.E. Melchior Collection

Description

Basin (i or yi) with two animal-head lugs. Wheel-thrown bowl with everted sides opening somewhat irregularly and curving inward below rim. Rim slightly flattened. Spiral throwing-mark on bottom, pronounced horizontal throwing marks on walls. String-cut flat base.Trimming on lower wall. At one place on lower wall, series of seven vertical indentations, parallel to one another but irregularly spaced--possibly scars from careless trimming.

Clay: dense, fine stoneware; reddish on exposed surfaces; gray on interior, yellow-brown on exterior where originally covered by glaze.

Glaze: pale yellow-green applied ash glaze, orginally covering interior and most of exterior wall except near base and bottom. Glaze almost entirely lost. Shadow of glaze drips around rim on outside, one long drip running onto base, fingerprints and smudges.

Decoration: On opposite shoulders just below rim, two hand-modeled animal-head "lug" appliques with "ring handles," the pointed muzzles and curled horns suggestive of ram's heads.

Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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