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Bottle of Cizhou type

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IIIF

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At A Glance

Period

12th-mid 14th century
Geography

Cizhou kiln network, Shanxi (likely) or Hebei province, China
Material

Stoneware with white slip and iron glaze
Dimension

H x Diam (overall): 28.2 x 16.4 cm (11 1/8 x 6 7/16 in)
Accession Number

F2003.1a-e
EDAN ID

edanmdm:fsg_F2003.1a-e

Object Details

Description

Wine bottle with a full, pear-shaped body tapering to a long, waisted neck ending in a flared mouth with lipped rim. The vessel sits on a splayed, slightly stepped foot that is unglazed on the bottom except where trimming has left a thin strip of glaze on the underside edge. The dark glaze is a lustrous rich brown suffused with fine speckles. A chip is visible on the foot ring.

The decoration consists of three registers set between bands of incised bow-string lines. The middle and largest frieze displays boldly drawn curling leaves attached to a meandering stem, a design interspersed with trilobed Sagittarius leaves. The top zone features oval leaves. The bottom register does not use the "cut glaze" technique but rather boasts a simplified decor of incised petal motifs.
Label

The design of this bottle was created in the multi-step process of "cut glaze" that requires applying white slip to the vessel, then glazing it, and then incising into and selectively scrapping away areas of the glaze to created a design. When the potters scrapped away the glaze, in many areas they also removed much of the white slip, so that it in some places it is so thin as to be almost imperceptible to the naked eye. Nonetheless, the slip improves the contrast of light and dark.
Provenance

By 1957 to 1977

Dugald Malcolm (1917-2000), method of acquisition unknown [1]

1977

Sale, London, Sotheby's, "The Malcolm Collection Catalogue of Important Chinese Bronzes, Ceramics, and Works of Art," March 29, 1977, lot 143 [2]

By 1987 to 2001/2002

The Idemitsu Collection, method of acquisition unknown [3]

2001/2002 to 2003

Anthony Carter, Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, purchased from The Idemitsu Collection [4]

2003

Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Anthony Carter, Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art [5]

Notes:

[1] In 1957 the Malcolm Collection of Chinese objects was on loan to the School of Oriental and African Studies and this object was a part of the collection at that time, as Margaret Medley studied it and published it as part of her 1976 study of Chinese ceramics. See Margaret Medley, "The Chinese Potter: A Practical History of Chinese Ceramics" [book] (Oxford: Phaidon Press, 1976), 135. The text credits Dugald Malcolm as the owner of the object. See also

Mr. J. D. Pearson and members of library staff, "Report: The Library of the School of Oriental and African Studies" in The Journal of Asian Studies, vol. 17, no. 1 (November 1957), 185.

[2] Sotheby's, "The Malcolm Collection: Catalogue of Important Chinese Bronzes, Ceramics, and Works of Art" [auction catalogue] (London, March 29, 1977), lot 120.

[3] See Idemitsu Bijutsukan, "Chūgoku tōji: Idemitsu Bijutsukan zōhin zuroku (Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection)" [book] (Tokyo: Idemitsu Bijutsukan, Hatsubai Heibonsha, 1987), no. 523.

[4] Anthony Carter of Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art reported that he acquired from the Idemitsu Collection in 2001 or 2002. See acquisition consideration, February 3, 2003, copy in object file.

[5] The Freer Gallery of Art purchased the object in March 2003. See purchase agreement, copy in object file.

Research updated February 14, 2022
Collection

Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Exhibition History

Chinese Ceramics: 10th–13th Century (November 5, 2011 to January 3, 2015)

Black and White: Chinese Ceramics from the 10th-14th Centuries (December 18, 2004 to November 7, 2010)
Previous custodian or owner

Captain Dugald Malcolm (English, 1917-2000)

Idemitsu Museum of Arts

Anthony Carter
Origin

Cizhou kiln network, Shanxi (likely) or Hebei province, China
Credit Line

Purchase — funds provided by Charles Lang Freer Endowment and Lois S. Raphling, the Hassan Family Foundation, in memory of Dr. David L. Raphling
Type

Vessel
Restrictions and Rights

Usage Conditions Apply

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