Bowl

Object Details

• Description

  Bowl with plain, slightly flaring rim. Blue-and-white.

  Clay: fine white porcelain.

  Glaze: plain, transparent.

  Decoration: in underglaze cobalt blue; inside, "the three friends" in a circle in center; outside, landscape with figures.

• Marks

  Chow inventory number written in Chinese on box’s label: no. 67.

• Label

  In a scene on the outside of this bowl, three friends meet in a garden to enjoy an interlude of music. Inside the bowl the motif of the Three Friends of Winter--pine, bamboo, and flowering plum--reinforces the theme of friendship.

• Provenance

  ?-no later than 1945

  Possibly Jacob E. Melchior (1879-1945), method of acquisition unknown [1]

  By 1945-1952

  Edward T. Chow (1910-1980), likely purchased from the estate of Jacob E. Melchior [2]

  About 1950-1952

  Mathias Komor, New York, as an agent for Edward T. Chow [3]

  From 1952

  The Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Mathias Komor, New York [4]

  Notes:

  [1] See Martha Ann Bari, Helen D. Ling: Dealer, collector, and Connoisseur [MA Thesis] (College Park: University of Maryland, 1992), pp. 49-89. Bari traces the close relationship forged between Helen D. Ling, Edward T. Chow, Hans W. Siegel, and the connoisseur Jacob E. Melchior in Shanghai from 1943 to Melchior’s death in 1945. Melchior mentored both Chow and Ling and, upon his death, Chow, Ling, and Siegel “were permitted to buy the Melchior collection from the estate and divide the objects among themselves.” Through phone interviews Bari conducted with Ling’s son, James G. Ling, it is implied that Chow’s share of the Melchior objects was eventually sent to the New York dealer Mathias Komor.

  Helen (née Dalling) Ling (1901–1982) was a collector, dealer and connoisseur of Chinese art. Born in Ohio, in 1928 she married Tien-Gi Ling (1898-1992), a Chinese research chemist. They lived in Shanghai, where Helen operated an antique and gift shop from 1938 to 1950 and in Singapore from 1953 until her death in 1982. Throughout her career Ling learned from and forged relationships with dealers and collectors, including Jacob E. Melchior, Hans W. Siegel, Edward T. Chow, and T. Y. King. She was a co-founder of the Southeast Asian Ceramic Society, Singapore, in 1971.

  [2] See object file for copy of March 1993 curator note by L. A. Cort: “Formerly in the collection of E. T. Chow, Hong Kong. Chow inventory number written in Chinese on box label: no. 67. Sale number C.61 on paper label.” The C.61 number was the number assigned by Helen D. Ling and Edward T. Chow and used by Mathias Komor for the 1950-1953 sale of items from Chow’s collection at his New York gallery; see also notes 1, 3 and 4.

  Edward (“Eddie”) T. Chow (1910-1980) was a significant collector and dealer in Chinese art during the postwar years. Born in Yangzhou, he was sent to Shanghai at the age of thirteen, where he studied with the art dealer Zhu Heting. He was mentored by the connoisseur Jacob E. Melchior and formed a professional relationship with dealer Helen D. Ling. Chow developed a network that included some of the major collectors of Chinese art during first half of the twentieth century, including Sir Percival David and George Eumorfopoulos. Having built both his reputation as a dealer and his own significant collection of Chinese works of art, in 1967 he moved to Switzerland. Following his death, Chow’s collection was auctioned by Sotheby’s in Hong Kong and London.

  [3] See object file for copy of inventory list in Box 7, Folder 5, titled “E.T.C. Ming Dynasty Kingtehchen Porcelain” from the Helen D. Ling Papers, National Museum of Asian Art Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. The bowl is listed as “C61 Cheng Hua Bowl”. Beginning in 1948, Helen D. Ling worked with Edward T. Chow to catalog his collection of Ming ceramics, including objects acquired from the late Jacob E. Melchior collection. This collection of ceramics was sent to the gallery of Mathias Komor in New York City, a collector with whom Helen D. Ling had forged connections. Komor exhibited the works from 1950-1953 as “Imperial Porcelains of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 A. D.).” Komor produced a limited catalog of 95 of the 130 works compiled by Ling and Chow in March 1951; as such, the lot numbers in the exhibition catalog do not sync with the numbers applied by Ling in the “E.T.C. Ming Dynasty Kingtehchen Porcelain” list. Additionally, see object file for copy of Mathias Komor letter to A. G. Wenley, dated January 28, 1951, stating, “I beg to acknowledge with many thanks receipt of your airmail-special delivery letter of the 26th, bringing me the welcome news of your decision to acquire all of the fine Ming porcelains now in your hands,” with a written notation “52.3-52.6 incl.” This letter indicates the object was at the Freer Gallery of Art for examination by at least the beginning of 1951.

  Mathias Komor was a Hungarian American dealer of Asian art and antiquities. He was a founding member of the Asia Society and a leading authority on Chinese antiquities, and he served as a consultant to several U. S. museums. Komor had a gallery on Madison Avenue in New York from 1941 until his retirement in 1983.

  [4] See object file for copy of Mathias Komor invoice to the Freer Gallery of Art, dated January 14, 1952, and approved by the Acting Secretary June 12, 1951, including object no. C.61, described as a “Large deep thinly potted bowl, with “mutton-fat” white glaze”.

  Research updated September 1, 2023

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Virtue and Entertainment: Chinese Music in the Visual Arts (October 1, 2005 to May 29, 2006)

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

  The Dragon's Moan (February 6 to October 1, 2000)

  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 Art (March 9, 1981 to March 12, 1982)

  Chinese Ceramics (May 9, 1980 to March 6, 1981)

  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)

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

• Previous custodian or owner

  Edward T. Chow (1910-1980)

  Mathias Komor (1909-1984)

• Origin

  Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, China

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1500s, 1400s

• Name

  Chow, Edward T., Komor, Mathias

• Place

  China, Jiangxi province, Jingdezhen

• Topic

  Landscapes, Porcelain, Art, Chinese Art, Qin, Ceramics, Jingdezhen ware, Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644), Chenghua reign (1465 - 1487)

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)