Basin in the shape of an alms bowl, inscribed with the Heart Sutra

Object Details

• Description

  Alms-bowl, globular, with inverted mouth.

  Wood stand.

  Clay: finely sifted, dark buff.

  Unglazed: wash of dark red.

  Decoration: a Buddhistic inscription incised in the paste.

• Label

  Shaped like a monk's alms bowl and inscribed with the Buddhist text known as the Heart Sutra, this water basin is actually a secular object for a scholar's desk. Pottery made in Yixing was favored by scholars, whose appreciation for calligraphy influenced Yixing pottery so that writing played an increasingly prominent role in ceramic decoration. During the nineteenth century some potters trained as calligraphers and used writing as the sole decor on their pots. When a scholar rinsed off his brush in this basin, he may have been motivated by the calligraphy to improve his own writing. Likewise he may have been inspired by the text, which exhorts, "Form is no different from Emptiness, and Emptiness is no different than Form."

• Provenance

  To 1916

  Lai-Yuan and Company, New York, to 1916 [1]

  From 1916 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Lai-Yuan and Company in 1916 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Pottery List, L. 2485, 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

  Beyond Paper: Chinese Calligraphy on Objects (August 18, 1994 to July 3, 1997)

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

• Previous custodian or owner

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

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Yixing, Jiangsu province, China

• 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

  1900s, 1860s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Lai-Yuan & Company

• Place

  Jiangsu province, Yixing, China

• Topic

  Heart Sutra, Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Inscriptions, Calligraphy, Stoneware, Chinese Art, Qing dynasty (1644 - 1911), Sutra, Ceramics, Yixing ware, Begging

• Culture

  Buddhists, Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)