Zhangzhou ware dish with design of deer in a landscape

Object Details

• Description

  Dish, deep with foliate rim (16 units), low foot slanted inward. Coarse grit encrusts foot rim and is scattered on small areas of base and lower body.

  Clay: white porcelain, resonant.

  Glaze: clear, feldspathic, very fine bubbles, all-over application, rather thick and uneven, giving a "lardy" appearance typical of "Swatow" ware. In this case, the appearance is more refined, the unevenness and wavy surface less marked than is characteristic of the "Swatow" type of export wares. Small amount of wear abrasion.

  Decoration: well-painted in underglaze cobalt blue of good quality in outline and wash. Inside, encircled by a double line, a central landscape scene with two deer lying under a pine tree, and with rocks, plant forms and clouds in typical 16th century conventionization filling the area. Four flower sprays (unidentified) are widely spaced in the surrounding band. Above a double line is a border of ten compartments, each containing a formal blossom, framed by foliate scrolls. A top line defines rim foliation. Areas of concentration of cobalt occur in framing lines, which show poor control of the flow of the pigment, at the ends of detail lines and in deliberate dotting of the deer forms. The latter is said to reproduce "heaped and piled" effect of earlier blue and white wares. The surface, characteristically, is pitted or depressed over these areas. Some smearing of the blue has occurred in a few places, apparently from handling before glazing. Outside, the painting is careless. One of the double lines near base is unfinished. Near rim, widely spaced and alternating are two simple flowers, two beribboned lozenges (one of the Pa-pao symbols) and three circular flourishes. A line defines the rim foliation.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

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

  A Decade of Discovery: Selected Acquisitions 1970-1980 (November 9, 1979 to May 22, 1980)

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

• Origin

  Zhangzhou kilns, Fujian province, China

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

  The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1640s, 1550s

• Place

  China, Zhangzhou kilns, Fujian province

• Topic

  Trees, Swatow ware, Art, Chinese Art, Ceramics, Plants, Flowers, Pine tree, Landscapes, Cobalt pigment, Porcelain, Animals, Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644), Zhangzhou ware

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)