Bowl with inlaid design of alternating chrysanthemums and lichee sprays

Object Details

• Description

  Bowl, low with rounded sides; low foot; three silica spur-marks, one on footrim, two on base inside footrim.

  Clay: light gray porcellanous stoneware.

  Glaze: light grayish-green celadon of bluish cast, an area of deterioration outside. Complete coverage. Low luster.

  Decoration: inlaid in white slip in paste under glaze; some details in black slip on outside appear to be painted. Inside: central double-ringed chrysanthemum medallion is surrounded by a trefoil band, above are four each of alternating lichee and chrysanthemum. Below rim a narrow band of simplified scroll design. Outside: same band, below which is main wide band of reverse inlay floral scroll interrupted by four roundels of chrysanthemums with black leaves.

• Provenance

  Unknown owners, Seoul [1]

  From 1884-1898 to 1907

  Dr. Horace N. Allen (1858-1932), Toledo, Ohio, purchased from unknown owners, in Seoul, during 1884-1898 [2]

  From 1907 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Dr. Horace N. Allen in 1907 [3]

  From 1920

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [4]

  Notes:

  [1] Horace N. Allen acquired his collection in Seoul between 1884 and 1898. See Horace Allen, Copy of a Certified Catalogue of a Collection of Ancient Korean Pottery:

  purchased and owned by Horace Newton Allen (Nak Tong [Korea]: Seoul Press, 1901), pg. 7.

  [2] Undated folder sheet note. See Original Pottery List, L. 1636, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. See also, Pamphlets S.I. 738 and S.I. 739, for Allen Correspondence, as well as Pamphlet S.I. 740, Original Allen Catalogue, No. 34, pg. 14.

  [3] See note 2.

  [4] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Cranes and Clouds: The Korean Art of Ceramic Inlay (November 5, 2011 to January 3, 2016)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Dr. Horace N. Allen (1858-1932) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Gangjin or Buan kilns, Jeolla-do province, Korea

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1200s

• Name

  Allen, Horace N., Freer, Charles Lang

• Place

  Gangjin, Jeolla-do province, Buan kilns, Korea

• Topic

  Goryeo period (918 - 1392), Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Inlay (process), Chrysanthemum, Copper pigment, Green glaze, Stoneware, Korean Art, Ceramics, Flowers

• Culture

  Koreans

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)