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At A Glance

  • Period

    late 15th-16th century
  • Geography

    Red River Delta kilns, Hai Duong province, Vietnam
  • Material

    Stoneware with white slip and cobalt pigment under clear, colorless glaze; iron pigment on base
  • Dimension

    H x W x D: 7 x 36.5 x 36.5 cm (2 3/4 x 14 3/8 x 14 3/8 in)
  • Accession Number

    F1991.55
  • EDAN ID

    edanmdm:fsg_F1991.55

Object Details

  • Description

    Large dish with everted rim, upright glazed lip, deep cavetto, wide flat bottom slightly domed in the center, on low, beveled, unglazed footrim.
    Clay: greyish-brown stoneware; long firing crack running from rim to center; another short firing crack on rim, two on footrim.
    Glaze: transparent ivory-grey tone; possibly a coating of white slip under the glaze. Glaze cut away from upright edge of rim. Some pinholes and fine wear scratches on the surface. Base entirely covered by chocolate-brown slip brushed concentrically, leaving some brush marks.
    Decoration: in underglaze cobalt, deep grayish-blue in color, executed with thick brush strokes without outlining, using some fine-lined fill details and some secondary lines on the cavetto vinescroll. In the bottom is a peony spray showing the blossom in profile and "cross-section," rising on a leafy stem and surrounded by three clusters of four-pointed leaves. Enclosing the floral spray is a band demarcated by two pairs of concentric circles, containing ten complete scalloped petals (or waves) and one abbreviated one interspersed with hooked lines, leaning in a counter-clockwise direction. In the cavetto, also bordered above by a pair of concentric circles, five full-face six-petaled flowers alternate with vinescrolls whose stems are attached alternately to the upper or lower edge of the band. On the everted rim is a conventional classic scroll. On the exterior are fourteen lotus panels (and one abbreviated one) enclosing pendant scrolls.
    Mark: none
  • Provenance

    From ca. 1956-58 to 1991
    Private collector, McLean, Virginia, acquired in Taipei between 1956 and 1958. [1]
    From 1991
    Freer Gallery of Art, gift of an anonymous donor, McLean, Virginia. [2]
    Notes:
    [1] See Curatorial Remark 4 in the object record. See also object file, Collections Management Office.
    [2] See note 1.
  • Collection

    Freer Gallery of Art Collection
  • Previous custodian or owner

    Anonymous
  • Origin

    Red River Delta kilns, Hai Duong province, Vietnam
  • Credit Line

    Anonymous gift
  • Type

    Vessel
  • Restrictions and Rights

    Usage Conditions Apply

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