Bowl

Object Details

• Description

  Vessel in the form of a bulb bowl often found in Chun ware of the Ming Dynasty. The shallow bowl has 18 bosses under the lip and another 18 above the feet. The three feet are in the form of "ju-i" lappets. The cavetto is of metal and the base and feet of wood. The original black color of the lacquer is still plainly visible in a number of patches, but the greater area of the surface is now a dirty grey tinged with green, which was probably a sort of coating put on the black lacquer subsequently. The base and feet are ocherish red. On the base is a defaced inscription of which the characters "wan kuan" [Chn] (?) and "chien-chih" [Chn] are still legible.

• Previous custodian or owner

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

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• 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 Miscellaneous List, S.I. 994, pg. 127, 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.

• Origin

  China

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1640s, 1300s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Lai-Yuan & Company

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Art, Chinese Art, Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644)

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)