Yaozhou ware bowl with molded decoration

Object Details

• Description

  Bowl: flaring conical form; low basal ring.

  Clay: hard, grayish-white, musical.

  Glaze: lustrous gray-green celadon with thin burnt-orange glaze on base inside footring.

  Decoration: molded in the paste of the interior; incised in bottom under glaze.

  See also F1917.512 .

• Label

  These bowls (see also F1917.512) from the Yaozhou kilns bear identical molded designs. Molds helped the artisan economize on decoration by replacing hand carving. The damp bowl form was pressed against a reusable mold bearing a carved design. The burnt orange color inside the footrings of both bowls is a hallmark of Yaozhou pots. The lustrous green color required at least two layers of glaze, but inside the footrings only one thin layer was applied, and it turned orange during firing.

• Provenance

  To 1917

  Yamanaka & Company, New York to 1917 [1]

  From 1917 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company, New York in 1917 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] Undated folder sheet note. See Original Pottery List, L. 2542, 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

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

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

• Previous custodian or owner

  Yamanaka and Co. 山中商会 (1917-1965) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Yaozhou kilns, Huangbao, Shaanxi 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

  1100s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Yamanaka and Co.

• Place

  Yaozhou kilns, Huangbao, Shaanxi province, China

• Topic

  Jin dynasty (1115 - 1234), Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Green glaze, Stoneware, Chinese Art, Ceramics, Northern Song dynasty (960 - 1127), Yaozhou ware

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)