Fragment of the rim and base of low celadon dish

Shape: Fragment of the wall and base of a 5.5 cm-high celadon dish. Original diameter of the dish was approximately 22 – 25 cm. The dish wall is 0.6-0.7 cm thick. The undercut glazed footring is about 0.5 cm high. The rim of the dish undulates slightly in a manner which echoes the impressed fluting in the cavetto.

Clay: Fine light-gray clay with many small air pockets and a modest number of dark inclusions. The clay has burned bright red where the base was exposed to the kiln atmosphere during firing. The interior of the normally gray body is a light buff shading to an orange-red above the foot and at places along the fracture line.

Glaze: A thick, rich, green celadon which completely covers the mouth, wall, and footring, both inside and out. The glaze is heavily crackled. A ring of glaze was removed from the base before firing to allow for placement of a kiln support.

Decoration: Underglaze impressed fluting extends from the edge of the mirror up the cavetto almost all the way to the gently undulating rim of the dish. The mirror is surrounded by a slightly raised ridge which marks the lower margin of the cavetto fluting. The outside of the dish wall is undecorated.

Marks: None.

Historical period(s)
Yuan or Ming dynasty, 14th century
Medium
Stoneware with celadon glaze
Style
Longquan ware
Dimensions
H x W x D: 5.5 x 12 x 8 cm (2 3/16 x 4 3/4 x 3 1/8 in)
Geography
China, Zhejiang province, Longquan
Credit Line
Gift of John A. Pope
Collection
Freer Study Collection
Accession Number
FSC-P-444
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Dish (fragment)

Keywords
China, green glaze, Longquan ware, stoneware, Yuan dynasty (1279 - 1368)
Provenance

To 1957
John A. Pope (1906-1982), Washington DC, collected between August 1956 and April 1957 in Angkor, Cambodia. [1]

From 1957
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of John A. Pope, Washington DC [2]

Notes:

[1] See Curatorial Remark 1 in the object record. See also “Ceramics in Mainland and Southeast Asia: Collections in the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery”, copy in object file, Collections Management Office.

[2] See note 1. See also object file, Collections Management Office.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Dr. John Alexander Pope 1906-1982

Description

Shape: Fragment of the wall and base of a 5.5 cm-high celadon dish. Original diameter of the dish was approximately 22 - 25 cm. The dish wall is 0.6-0.7 cm thick. The undercut glazed footring is about 0.5 cm high. The rim of the dish undulates slightly in a manner which echoes the impressed fluting in the cavetto.

Clay: Fine light-gray clay with many small air pockets and a modest number of dark inclusions. The clay has burned bright red where the base was exposed to the kiln atmosphere during firing. The interior of the normally gray body is a light buff shading to an orange-red above the foot and at places along the fracture line.

Glaze: A thick, rich, green celadon which completely covers the mouth, wall, and footring, both inside and out. The glaze is heavily crackled. A ring of glaze was removed from the base before firing to allow for placement of a kiln support.

Decoration: Underglaze impressed fluting extends from the edge of the mirror up the cavetto almost all the way to the gently undulating rim of the dish. The mirror is surrounded by a slightly raised ridge which marks the lower margin of the cavetto fluting. The outside of the dish wall is undecorated.

Marks: None.

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