Ding ware bottle

Object Details

• Description

  Vase of truncated bottle shape with flat base.

  Clay: fine grained white stoneware.

  Glaze: transparent, glossy.

  Decoration: peony scrolls in brown slip with incised details.

• Provenance

  From at least 1950 to 1959

  F. Low-Beer & Co., New York, N.Y., from at least December 1950 [1]

  From 1959

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Fritz Low-Beer (1906-1976) on April 20, 1959 [2]

  Notes:

  [1] Fritz Low-Beer informed Archibald G. Wenley, Director of the Freer Gallery that he was in the possession of the bottle in a letter, dated December 6, 1950, copy in object file.

  The bottle was shipped to the Freer Gallery of Art for acquisition consideration on June 6, 1952, and subsequently it was included on “List of Objects Contemplated for Purchase by the Freer Gallery of Art,” November 1, 1955.

  It was listed in the document as “Pottery jar, Chinese, Ting yao.”

  The location of Fritz Low-Beer’s company was noted in the document as New York.

  The collector and dealer Fritz Low-Beer had co-owned with Walter Hochstadter a gallery in New York in the 1940s, however, by the time the transaction took place he operated independently and resided in Rome.

  [2] See Fritz Low-Beer’s invoice, dated to April 20, 1959, copy in object file.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Setting the Bar: Arts of the Song dynasty (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)

  Chinese Ceramics: 10th–13th Century (November 5, 2011 to January 3, 2015)

  Black and White: Chinese Ceramics from the 10th-14th Centuries (December 18, 2004 to November 7, 2010)

  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)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Fritz Low-Beer (1906-1976)

• Origin

  Ding kilns, Hebei Province, China

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Vessel

• On View

  Freer Gallery 15: Setting the Bar: Arts of the Song Dynasty

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1100s, 1000s

• Name

  Low-Beer, Fritz

• Place

  China, Ding kilns, Hebei Province

• Topic

  Porcelain, Art, Peony, Chinese Art, Ceramics, Ding ware, Northern Song dynasty (960 - 1127)

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)

• On View

  Yes