Bowl with design in reserve

Object Details

• Description

  Blue and white.

  Clay: fine white porcelain; crack in footrim.

  Glaze: plain, transparent.

  Decoration: in underglaze cobalt blue with floral designs reserved in white on blue ground. Six-character Hsuan-te mark in underglaze blue on base.

• Marks

  Six-character Hsuan-te mark in underglaze blue on base.

  Six-character Hsuan-te mark in underglaze blue on base.

• Label

  Fifteenth-century blue-and-white porcelains are among the most memorable and influential of all Chinese ceramics. A Yuan dynasty, fourteenth-century approach to creating a design in reserve against a solid background was revived to great effect in the Xuande reign. The cobalt decoration of the period often appears blue-black, as it does here in the dark washes that alternate with paler areas, and the cobalt sometimes takes on a slightly blurred or fuzzy texture. The sensibility of many porcelain decorations in the Xuande period, including this design, bear a close affinity to textile patterns and serves as a reminder of the close links among many of the Ming arts.

  The unpainted motifs-lotuses outside and seasonal flowers inside-in their snowy brilliance reveal the Xuande potters' technical accomplishment in removing virtually all impurities from the clay. The hibiscus in the well of this bowl is associated with wishes for immortality in traditional Chinese lore.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Looking Out, Looking In: Art in Late Imperial China (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)

  Luxury and Luminosity: Visual Culture and the Ming Court (July 3, 2004 to June 26, 2005)

  Chinese Ceramics (May 9, 1993 to April 17, 1995)

  Chinese and Korean Ceramics (July 11, 1986 to March 13, 1987)

  Chinese Ceramics (March 15, 1982 to July 10, 1986)

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

  Chinese Art (January 1, 1963 to March 6, 1981)

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Ceramics (March 7, 1957 to January 1, 1963)

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Ceramics, 1955 (September 19, 1955 to November 10, 1955)

  Centennial Exhibition, Gallery 13 (November 10, 1955 to March 1, 1957)

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Art, 1953 (May 26, 1953 to September 15, 1953)

  Blue-Decorated Porcelain of the Ming Dynasty (Autumn 1949)

  Stone Sculpture, Buddhist Bronze, and Chinese Painting (May 2, 1923 to February 25, 1956)

• Origin

  Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, China

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Vessel

• On View

  Freer Gallery 13: Looking Out, Looking In: Art in Late Imperial China

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1400s

• Place

  China, Jiangxi province, Jingdezhen

• Topic

  Porcelain, Art, Chinese Art, Ceramics, Flowers, Jingdezhen ware, Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644), Xuande reign (1426 - 1435)

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)

• On View

  Yes