Spouted bowl with molded decoration

Object Details

• Description

  Spouted bowl; low with flat base.

  Clay: white porcelain of "sugary" lightweight type characteristic of Ch'ing-bai wares, glassy in fracture. Surface of unglazed base and rim is light buff from iron oxidization. The same firing effect, but a deeper rusty color, appears where glaze has skipped and shows through where glaze is thin in bottom of cup. Inside the bowl has appearance of having been wiped, either in the wet clay or with slip.

  Glaze: Qingbai type: feldspathic; uneven thickness; transparent, but with some opacity due to bubbles and slight scumming; uneven color varying from pale bluish gray to strong aqua greenish-blue and pale blue tint; crackle appears on outside of spout only. Rim of spout is glazed but plain bowl rim and base are unglazed. Glaze has skipped a large area inside spout and in small spots on outside of spout. Some dark inclusions have appearance of iron.

  Decoration: six moulded lotus-petal panels under the glaze, two partly obscurred by spout and its application. Apparently the round bowl was moulded first and then the cut made and spout applied. A scroll-form loop was applied beneath the spout.

• Label

  The shape of this porcelain bowl made in the Yuan dynasty derives from Islamic metal pouring vessels. Its exterior bears a molded pattern of stylized lotus petals' the loop beneath the spout is decorative and recalls the functional suspencion loop on the metal prototypes. Yuan dynasty China was ruled by Mongols, who had an established trade relationship with Islamic merchants, which they extended into China. Thus, orders for ceramics modeled after Islamic vessels were placed by foreign merchants who sold them in China and exported quantities of such wares to other parts of Asia.

• Provenance

  From at least 1973

  Ken J.J. Baars, Surrey, England [1]

  From at least 1974 to 1976

  Eskenazi Ltd., London, from at least 1974 [2]

  From 1976

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Eskenazi Ltd. in 1976 [3]

  Notes:

  [1] This object was published as part of Ken J.J. Baars's collection in Adrian M. Joseph, Chinese and Annamese Ceramics found in the Philippines and Indonesia (London: Hugh Moss Publishing Ltd., 1973), pl. 19 (see Curatorial Note 2, J. H. Knapp, 1976, in object record). Coming from the collection of Ken J.J. Baars, this bowl presumably had been in Indonesia, where Baars formed his collection (see Curatorial Note 6, Louise Cort, July 27, 2006, in object record).

  [2] According to information in the object file, approval for purchase of this object by the Freer Gallery was granted December 23, 1974; however, the object was not purchased until January 27, 1976. For additional information, see Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List file, Collections Management Office.

  [3] See note 2.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Parades: Freer Ceramics Installed by Gwyn Hanssen Pigott (November 4, 2006 to January 7, 2008)

  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)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Ken J.J. Baars

  Eskenazi Ltd. (Founded 1923)

• 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

  1200s, 1300s

• Name

  Baars, Ken J.J., Eskenazi Ltd.

• Place

  China, Jiangxi province, Jingdezhen

• Topic

  Porcelain, Art, Qingbai ware, Chinese Art, Yuan dynasty (1279 - 1368), Ceramics

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)