Fragment of an underglaze cobalt-blue-painted wall tile moldmade body

Object Details

• Description

  Shape: Fragment of a hollow-back wall tile, probably architectural. The side wall of the tile ranges is roughly 1.4 cm thick. The height of the wall is 3.2 cm from face to base. The tile is approximately 1.5 cm thick from face to hollowed-out back.

  Clay: The body consists of a very fine gray clay which is generally the color and consistency of glazing putty with occasional darker portions. The clay body exhibits many small and a few large air pockets but virtually no inclusions.

  Glaze: The tile is covered with a thin transparent glaze.

  Decoration: Decoration consists of underglaze cobalt-blue painting of lobed designs. The painting is free and done in the Chinese style. It is not clear whether there is a slip under the cobalt-blue painting, although it appears that such is the case and that the cobalt pigment has suffused into the slip. The cobalt decoration is very dark blue, especially where the painter applied the pigment thickly.

  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 Remarks 2 and 3 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

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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