Zhangzhou ware dish

Object Details

• Description

  Bowl: everted rim, grit-encrusted foot, five chips in rim.

  Clay: white porcelain, medium coarse, oxidized brown where exposed.

  Glaze: clear, feldspathic; thick, "lardy" and pitted outside.

  Decoration: Boldly painted in polychrome low-fired overglaze enamels, iron-red, turquoise, green and some black outlining. Two flying birds with clouds and large flowers fill the center; two dragons undulate among the clouds, flame and plant forms on the cavetto. Outside is a double iron-red line under the rim.

• Previous custodian or owner

  Estate of William Richards Castle (1849-1935)

  Alan, Donald and David Winslow

• Provenance

  Estate of the Honorable William R. Castle. [1]

  To 1970

  Alan F., David C., and Donald F. Winslow, by inheritance from the estate of the Honorable William R. Castle. [2]

  From 1970

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Alan F., David C., and Donald F. Winslow. [3]

  Notes:

  [1] Curatorial Remark 1 in the object record.

  [2] The object came to the Freer Study Collection in 1970 (FSC-P-1133). It was transferred to the permanent collection in 1979. Alan F., David C., and Donald F. Winslow are the heirs of the Estate of the Honorable W. R. Castle. See note 1 and correspondences in the object file, Collections Management Office. Also see Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List after 1920 file, Collections Management Office.

  [3] See note 2.

• Origin

  Zhangzhou kilns, Fujian province, China

• Credit Line

  Gift of Alan, David and Donald Winslow

• 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.

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1600s, 1640s

• Name

  Winslow, Alan, Donald and David, Castle, William Richards

• Place

  China, Zhangzhou kilns, Fujian province

• Topic

  Porcelain, Art, Chinese Art, Plants, Flowers, Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644), Zhangzhou ware, Dragon

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)