Jardiniere with impressed character jiu (nine)

Object Details

• Description

  Flower pot of elongated quatrefoil shape with steep high sides; five round holes in base; Chinese number jiu (nine) incised in clay underneath; four cloud-scroll feet; spur marks.

  Clay: fine grained, gray, fired hard.

  Glaze: thick, opaque, glossy; light blue and violet inside, rich shades of purple outside; "earth worm" marks.

• Provenance

  Found in the village of Ssu, near Honan-fu, in 1914 [1]

  To 1916

  Lai-Yuan and Company, New York, to 1916 [2]

  From 1916 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Lai-Yuan and Company in 1916 [3]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1]According to Curatorial Remark 3, Charles Lang Freer, in the object record, this object, along with

  F1916.4 and F1916.5, "was found in a large flower pot at a ruined house in the village of Ssu, near Honan-fu, in 1914."

  [2] See Original Pottery List, L.2455, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

  [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

  The Orchid in Chinese Painting (January 15 to July 17, 2011)

  The Arts of China (November 18, 1990 to September 7, 2014)

  Untitled Exhibition, East Asian Ceramics and Paintings, East Corridor (January 8, 1947 to ---)

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

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Metalwork, Pottery, and Painting (March 23, 1944 to May 2, 1946)

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Ceramics and Paintings (November 14, 1944 to May 3, 1946)

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Painting and Ceramics, 1943 (March 22, 1943 to November 13, 1944)

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Painting and Ceramics (March 14, 1931 to March 22, 1943)

  Chinese Painting and Pottery (May 2, 1923 to March 22, 1943)

  Early Chinese Pottery and Scultpure, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1916 (March 6 to October 15, 1916)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Lai-Yuan & Company (ca. 1915-April 1921) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Juntai, Henan province, China

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

  The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1400s, 1300s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Lai-Yuan & Company

• Place

  Juntai, China, Henan province

• Topic

  Art, Jun ware, Stoneware, Chinese Art, Yuan dynasty (1279 - 1368), Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644)

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)