Water bottle made for the court of King Rama V

Object Details

• Description

  Water bottle, with long neck and pear-shaped body on everted footrim. Matching domed lid with bud-shaped knob.

  Clay: porcelain.

  Glaze: clear, colorless glaze.

  Decoration: in cobalt pigment under the glaze, three sprays of auspicious fruits alternating with the monogram of Rama V, framed above and below by floral bands.

  Mark: on the base, Jintang Faji.

• Marks

  On the base: Jintang Faji.

• Inscriptions

  Monogram of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V).

• Provenance

  By 1974

  Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, New York City, acquired in Thailand, by 1974 [1]

  From 2004

  Freer Gallery of Art, given by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation in 2004

  Notes:

  [1] This object was acquired by Doris Duke as part of a large collection of Southeast Asian art intended for use in a recreation of a Thai village to be built in Hawai'i. This project is described in Nancy Tingley, Doris Duke: The Southeast Asian Art Collection (New York: The Foundation for Southeast Asian Art and Culture, distributed by University of Hawai'i Press, 2003). Ms. Duke made purchasing trips to Bangkok in 1961, 1964, and 1965. In 1972 the collections were shipped to the Duke estate in New Jersey.

  Additional buying trips in 1973 and 1974 were the last major occasions to acquire art for the project, which was never realized. While the dates the purchase of this object cannot be confirmed, it is probable that it was acquired in the early phase of shopping, in the 1960s (according to Curatorial Note 5, Louise A. Cort, April 5, 2004, in the object record).

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Ceramics from Thailand (July 1, 2013 to March 2, 2014)

  Taking Shape: Ceramics in Southeast Asia (April 1, 2007 to December 4, 2011)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (Established 1996)

• Origin

  Jingdezhen kilns, Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, China

• Credit Line

  Gift from Doris Duke's Southeast Asian Art Collection

• 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

  1890s, 1870s

• Name

  Doris Duke Charitable Foundation

• Place

  China, Jiangxi province, Jingdezhen, Jingdezhen kilns

• Topic

  Water, Cobalt pigment, Porcelain, Art, Clear glaze, Chinese Art, Qing dynasty (1644 - 1911), Ceramics, Flowers, Jingdezhen ware

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)