Guan ware long-necked vase with raised bow-string decoration

Object Details

• Description

  Vase with mallet-shaped (chih-ch'iu p'ing) body and tall cylindrical neck, with two encircling ridges.

  Clay: hard, fine, gray.

  Glaze: lustrous waxy bluish-gray celadon; coarse brown crackle.

• Label

  When the Song dynasty (960–1279) court was located in north China, blue-green celadons called Ru ware were made exclusively for the palace. Characterized by a smooth glaze, either uncrazed or with faint marks like cracked ice, Ru wares provided a prototype for Guan ware, the official ware of the Southern Song (1127–1279) court, which relocated to modern-day Hangzhou. This mallet-shaped vase represents the finest of southern Guan ware. The shape of the vase resembles a mallet used to pound fibers in making paper. The direction of the crackle, here an intentional design feature, developed along stress lines created when the vessel was shaped.

• Provenance

  To 1911

  Chin Tung, China, to 1911 [1]

  From 1911 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Chin Tung, China, in 1911 [2]

  From 1920

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Pottery List, L. 2119, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] 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

  Setting the Bar: Arts of the Song dynasty (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)

  Chinese Ceramics: 10th–13th Century (November 5, 2011 to January 3, 2015)

  Shades of Green and Blue: Chinese Celadon Ceramics (July 15, 1997 to September 7, 2004)

  Chinese Ceramics (March 15, 1982 to July 10, 1986)

  Chinese Art (March 9, 1981 to March 12, 1982)

  Chinese Ceramics (May 9, 1980 to March 6, 1981)

  Chinese Ceramics (April 11, 1978 to September 4, 1980)

  Chinese Art (January 1, 1963 to March 6, 1981)

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Ceramics (March 7, 1957 to January 1, 1963)

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Ceramics, 1955 (September 19, 1955 to November 10, 1955)

  Centennial Exhibition, Gallery 13 (November 10, 1955 to March 1, 1957)

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Art, 1946 (May 6, 1946 to November 17, 1955)

  Untitled Exhibition, The Japan Society, February 1914 (February 1914)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Chin Tung (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Vessel

• On View

  Freer Gallery 15: Setting the Bar: Arts of the Song Dynasty

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1100s, 1200s

• Name

  Tung, Chin, Freer, Charles Lang

• Place

  China, Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Guan ware, Art, Stoneware, Chinese Art, Vase, Southern Song dynasty (1127 - 1279), Ceramics

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)

• On View

  Yes