Pilgrim flask

Object Details

• Description

  This flask is unusually large, with a full flattened ovoid body supported on an oval, splayed foot. The buff-white clay of the body is mold cast, and covered by a finely crazed colorless glaze that is often described as white or straw-colored. The large flattened body is decorated with a single pendant palmette molded in low relief. The stem of the palmette continues around the edge to form a frame, the bottom of which rises to two points to form a curved dishlike support for the largest petal of the palmette. The two small lugs are attached separately to the shoulder.

• Provenance

  Dr. and Mrs. Fritz Bilfinger, Zurich and Massachusetts [1]

  1995

  Sale, Sotheby's, New York, 1995

  From 1995

  Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, purchased at auction, Sotheby's, New York, in 1995

  Notes:

  [1] The object was in the collection of Dr. and Mrs. Fritz Bilfinger (Zurich, Switzerland and Massachusetts), and was on loan to the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, during the early 1960s (according to Provenance Remark 1, Jenny So, March 17,

  1995, in the object record).

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Exhibition History

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

  Chinese Art: Symbols and Images (April 16 to June 6, 1967)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Dr. and Mrs. Fritz Bilfinger

  Sotheby's (New York)

• Origin

  Northern China

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Smithsonian Unrestricted Trust Funds

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  600s, 500s

• Name

  Bilfinger, Fritz, Sotheby's (New York)

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Sui dynasty (581 - 618), Art, Stoneware, Chinese Art, Tang dynasty (618 - 907), Ceramics

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)