Fragment, possibly from shoulder of a small bottle or ewer

Object Details

• Description

  Shape: Fragment of a small bottle, ewer, or jar, possibly from the shoulder area. The shard wall is 0.5 cm thick.

  Clay: Very fine, light-colored, almost porcelaneous clay. No air pockets but many, very fine dark inclusions. The main fracture line of the shard reveals several large inclusions of reddish-brown, unvitrified sandy material.

  Glaze: Clear, pale seawater-green glaze which allows the white body to show through. The uncrackled glaze is darker where it is thicker over the incised decoration. The original pot was glazed both inside and out.

  Decoration: Underglaze incised and combed design elements from an unidentifiable motif.

  Marks: None.

• Previous custodian or owner

  Dr. John Alexander Pope (1906-1982)

• Provenance

  To 1957

  John A. Pope (1906-1982), Washington DC, collected between August 1956 and April 1957 in Angkor, Cambodia. [1]

  From 1957

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of John A. Pope, Washington DC [2]

  Notes:

  [1] See Curatorial Remark 1 in the object record. See also “Ceramics in Mainland and Southeast Asia: Collections in the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery”, copy in object file, Collections Management Office.

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

• Origin

  Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, China

• Credit Line

  Gift of John A. Pope

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1100s

• Name

  Pope, John Alexander

• Place

  China, Jiangxi province, Jingdezhen

• Topic

  Porcelain, Art, Chinese Art, Southern Song dynasty (1127 - 1279), Jingdezhen ware

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)