Fragment of underglaze cobalt-blue-painted wall tile

Object Details

• Description

  Shape: Shard consists of pieces of a curved, possibly round Vietnamese wall tile. The tile was probably part of a border segment. The foliated edge is modelled to mirror the underglaze lotus-petal decoration on the face of the tile. Length of the tile wall is 1.7 - 1.8 cm from the face of the tile to the base of the wall edge. The thickness of the tile face is 1.3 - 1.5 cm from the face to the back of the tile. Judging from potting marks on the back of the tile it appears to have been formed on a wheel, with the foliated edge having been carved after the tile was removed from the wheel.

  Clay: The light-gray clay body is extremely fine-grained but contains many air pockets, some of them quite large. There are very few inclusions.

  Glaze: The greenish cobalt decoration was painted on a milky white slip into which it suffused during firing. The slip and underglaze decoration were then covered with a clear glaze. The glaze and slip can be seen separately and clearly on the inside of the hollow tile.

  Decoration: Underglaze cobalt-blue painting of a lotus-petal band on the face of the tile. The cobalt pigment used to decorate this tile has a decidedly greenish tint.

  Marks: None.

• Provenance

  To 1957

  Abu Ridho, Jakarta, Indonesia. [1]

  1957

  John A. Pope (1906-1982), Washington DC, gift of Abu Ridho, Jakarta, Indonesia. [2]

  From 1957

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of John A. Pope, Washington DC [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See Curatorial Remark 1 in the object record.

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] See note 1. See also object file, Collections Management Office.

• Collection

  Freer Study Collection

• Previous custodian or owner

  Abu Ridho (born 1927)

  Dr. John Alexander Pope (1906-1982)

• Origin

  Red River Delta kilns, Hai Duong province, Vietnam

• Credit Line

  Gift of John A. Pope

• Type

  Architectural Element

• 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.

  The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1600s, 1400s

• Name

  Pope, John Alexander, Ridho, Abu

• Place

  Hai Duong province, Vietnam, Red River Delta kilns

• Topic

  Art, Later Le dynasty (1428 - 1527), Stoneware, Southeast Asian Art, Ceramics

• Culture

  Southeast Asians

• Object Type

  Architectural elements