Jizhou ware bottle with resist decoration of flowering plum branch

Detail of a pattern
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At A Glance

  • Period

    13th century
  • Geography

    Jizhou kilns, Jiangxi province, China
  • Material

    Stoneware with iron-rich pigment, dark and colorless glazes (neck shortened and repaired)
  • Dimension

    H x W: 18 x 12.6 cm (7 1/16 x 4 15/16 in)
  • Accession Number

    F1915.154
  • EDAN ID

    edanmdm:fsg_F1915.154

Object Details

  • Description

    Jar: ovoidal, with small neck, high bulbous shoulder, glazed base recessed inside foot. Bearing surface of foot rough, chipped, unglazed. Entire neck & lip restored, probably not original form.
    Clay: near-white porcellaneous stoneware.
    Glaze: dark brown iron-type, low lustre, crazed, also thin transparent glaze wash over white body in decorated areas only.
    Decoration: 2 large prunus sprays reserved in brown glaze ground, details brush-painted in brown.
  • Provenance

    To 1915
    Abel William Bahr (1877-1959), New York, NY, to 1915 [1]
    From 1915 to 1919
    Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Abel William Bahr, New York, in 1915 [2]
    From 1920
    The Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]
    Notes:
    [1] See Original Pottery List, L. 2446, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Abel William Bahr (1877-1959) was a collector and dealer born in Shanghai, China. After he left Shanghai in 1910, he lived, at various points in time, in London, Montreal, and Ridgefield, Connecticut. He established a gallery in New York City in 1920.
    [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

    Plum Blossoms, Chrysanthemums, and Bamboo (July 30 to December 4, 2011)
    Black and White: Chinese Ceramics from the 10th-14th Centuries (December 18, 2004 to November 7, 2010)
    A Breath of Spring (May 17, 1999 to January 9, 2000)
    The Arts of China (November 18, 1990 to September 7, 2014)
    Chinese Ceramics (April 11, 1978 to September 4, 1980)
    Early Chinese Pottery and Scultpure, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1916 (March 6 to October 15, 1916)
  • Previous custodian or owner

    Abel William Bahr (1877-1959) (C.L. Freer source)
    Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
  • Origin

    Jizhou kilns, Jiangxi province, China
  • Credit Line

    Gift of Charles Lang Freer
  • Type

    Vessel
  • Restrictions and Rights

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