Covered box

Object Details

• Description

  Covered box. Mold-formed.

  Clay: coarse porcelain.

  Glaze: lead-silcate glaze, tinted green with copper, applied on the biscuit. Knob unglazed.

  Decoration: mold-formed.

  Mark: none.

• Label

  Specific kilns in the Zhangzhou complex in southern Fujian province produced boxes of this sort, molded of porcelain clay and glazed on the biscuit with lead-silicate enamel glazes in shades of green, yellow, and purple. Caches of such brightly-glazed containers have been unearthed on the island of Sulawesi, although they are rarely found elsewhere in Indonesia.

• Provenance

  From 1965-69 to 2005

  Ambassador Jack Wilson Lydman (1914-2005), acquired in Jakarta, Indonesia between 1965 and 1969. [1]

  From 2005 to 2010

  Janine Lydman, Washington, DC and Berryville, Virginia, ownership transferred to Mrs. Lydman after the death of her husband, Ambassador Jack Wilson Lydman. [2]

  From 2010

  Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift of Washington, DC and Janine Lydman, Berryville, Virginia. [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See Curatorial Remark 2 in the object record.

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] See note 1. See Deed of Gift, object file, Collections Management Office.

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Previous custodian or owner

  Ambassador Jack Wilson Lydman (1914-2005)

  Mrs. Janine Lydman

• Origin

  possibly Tiankeng kiln group, Zhangzhou, Fujian province, China

• Credit Line

  Gift of Ambassador and Mrs. Jack W. Lydman

• Type

  Container

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1600s, 1550s

• Name

  Lydman, Janine, Lydman, Jack Wilson

• Place

  China, Fujian province, Tiankeng kiln group, Zhangzhou

• Topic

  Porcelain, Art, Chinese Art, Ceramics, Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644), Zhangzhou ware

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Containers