Bowl with Jun-style glaze

Object Details

• Artist

  Han Mei Lin (China, born ca. mid-20th century)

  Possibly Li Jianjun (China, born 1950)

• Label

  Han Mei Lin studied painting, ceramics, and fiber art in college and became well known in China as an art teacher, painter, and occasional film animator before discovering his prefered vocation as a potter. This bowl made in 1989 is Han Mei Lin's reinterpretation of the prized ceramic tradition of Jun ware, a sturdy stoneware with thick, opalescent glaze that was developed in the early Song dynasty (960-1279) at kilns in Henan Province. Many traditional pieces of Jun ware have splashes of crimson purple, which result from painting a glaze containing copper ore in suspension onto a vessel before it is fired. Han Mei Lin emphasizes this effect to advantage, bringing to mind abstract painting. The bowl's modern boldness is accentuated by its unprecedented large size.

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  The Arts of China (November 18, 1990 to September 7, 2014)

• Origin

  Beijing, China

• Credit Line

  Gift of the artist

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1980s

• Name

  Mei Lin, Han, Li, Jianjun

• Place

  Beijing, China

• Topic

  Contemporary Art, Art, Jun ware, Stoneware, Chinese Art, Ceramics, Modern period (1912 - present)

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)