Longquan ware cup

Object Details

• Description

  Squat cup with foliate flange resting above a small, U-shaped handle. Rim almost as wide as maximum diameter of body, which swells out slightly. Short, narrow footring. Clay: stoneware, bright orange on surface where exposed on unglazed rim and edge of footring.

  Glaze: misfired Guan-type glaze, appearing dull tan with uneven blue-purple blotches; densely crackled with pattern of larger cracks.

• Label

  Guan-type glaze is difficult to control, and this cup demonstrates an undesirable variation in glaze color and texture that occurs when the glaze is oxidized (fired with abundant oxygen) and under fired.

  This cup has a light- rather than dark-colored body and was probably made in Longquan. Some scholars believe the Guan glaze originated at the Longquan kilns and was then adopted at the imperial kiln in Hangzhou; once Guan ware was in vogue at the court, influences percolated back to Longquan.

• Provenance

  From 1962

  Dr. Irving Philips, San Francisco, purchased in 1962 [1]

  From 1986

  Freer Gallery of Art, given by Dr. Irving Philips in 1986 [2]

  Notes:

  [1] According to Curatorial Note 6 in object record.

  [2] The object was transferred from the Freer Study Collection to the Freer Permanent Collection on May 22, 1987 (see Curatorial Note 6 in object record).

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Shades of Green and Blue: Chinese Celadon Ceramics (July 15, 1997 to September 7, 2004)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Dr. Irving Philips

• Origin

  Probably Dayao kiln or Qikou kiln, Longquan, Zhejiang province, China

• Credit Line

  Gift of Dr. Irving Philips

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1100s, 1300s

• Name

  Philips, Irving

• Place

  China, Qikou kiln, Zhejiang province, Dayao kiln, Longquan

• Topic

  Longquan ware, Guan type, Art, Stoneware, Chinese Art, Southern Song dynasty (1127 - 1279), Ceramics

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)