Fragment of the base of a large celadon dish

Shape: Fragment of the base of a large celadon dish. Wheel thrown. Diameter of the footring is approximately 16.0 cm. The base of the dish is approximately 1.6 cm thick inside the footring while the lower wall is 1.1 cm thick.

Clay: Moderately rough gray clay with many fine inclusions and small air pockets. The clay is uniformly gray except for the unglazed stacking ring inside the footring on the base and along a fracture line where the body burned brick-red during firing.

Glaze: The opaque green celadon glaze is very thick but has a whitish cast and a generally “curdled” look to it, most likely the result of underfiring. There are many pin holes in the glaze, especially in the mirror of the dish, and some of them are quite large. The glaze has a “lumpy” feel to it, especially at the bottom of the wall immediately above the footring.

Decoration: There appears to be a circle of incised floral decoration under the glaze in the mirror of the dish, but this cannot be definitely confirmed due to the opacity of the thick glaze.

Marks: None.

Historical period(s)
Yuan or Ming dynasty, 14th century
Medium
Stoneware with underfired celadon glaze
Style
Longquan ware
Dimensions
H x W x D: 2.4 x 15.6 x 14.7 cm (15/16 x 6 1/8 x 5 13/16 in)
Geography
China, Zhejiang province, Longquan
Credit Line
Gift of John A. Pope
Collection
Freer Study Collection
Accession Number
FSC-P-457
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Dish (fragment)

Keywords
China, flower, 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 2 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 base of a large celadon dish. Wheel thrown. Diameter of the footring is approximately 16.0 cm. The base of the dish is approximately 1.6 cm thick inside the footring while the lower wall is 1.1 cm thick.

Clay: Moderately rough gray clay with many fine inclusions and small air pockets. The clay is uniformly gray except for the unglazed stacking ring inside the footring on the base and along a fracture line where the body burned brick-red during firing.

Glaze: The opaque green celadon glaze is very thick but has a whitish cast and a generally "curdled" look to it, most likely the result of underfiring. There are many pin holes in the glaze, especially in the mirror of the dish, and some of them are quite large. The glaze has a "lumpy" feel to it, especially at the bottom of the wall immediately above the footring.

Decoration: There appears to be a circle of incised floral decoration under the glaze in the mirror of the dish, but this cannot be definitely confirmed due to the opacity of the thick glaze.

Marks: None.

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