Fragment of the lid of a Qingbai-glazed covered box

Object Details

• Description

  Shape: Fragment of the cover of a Qingbai-glazed, porcelain covered box. Shape of the original pot is ambiguous. Shard is judged to be a cover fragment from the potting rings which are detectable on the unglazed underside of the fragment. The shard is 0.4 cm thick.

  Clay: Very white porcelain with a fine sugary texture. There are a few dark inclusions and virtually no air pockets. The porcelain body has oxidized a rust color on portions of the underside of the shard.

  Glaze: Smooth, finely bubbled, uncrackled Qingbai glaze of a delicate bluish tint. The underside of the shard is completely unglazed.

  Decoration: The top of the box cover appears to bear a portion of an impressed design. The motif of the decoration cannot be discerned.

  Marks: None.

• 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 2 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.

• Collection

  Freer Study Collection

• Previous custodian or owner

  Dr. John Alexander Pope (1906-1982)

• Origin

  Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, China

• Credit Line

  Gift of John A. Pope

• Type

  Container

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1100s, 1200s

• Name

  Pope, John Alexander

• Place

  China, Jiangxi province, Jingdezhen

• Topic

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

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Containers