Bowl

Bowl: plain rim, slightly flaring foot with slight sandy adhesions.
Clay: porcelain, slightly off-white.
Glaze: transparent with fine bubbles over a pure white slip except on foot.
Decoration: lotus petals roughly cut in relief outside. Diagonal incisions around outside of footrim.

Historical period(s)
Liao dynasty, 11th century
Medium
Porcelain with clear glaze
Style
Ding-related ware
Dimensions
H x W: 4.5 x 10.3 cm (1 3/4 x 4 1/16 in)
Geography
China, Hebei province
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1907.295
On View Location
Freer Gallery 14: Rediscovering Korea's Past
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Bowl

Keywords
China, Ding type ware, Liao dynasty (907 - 1125), porcelain
Provenance

Unknown owners, Seoul [1]

From 1884-1898 to 1907
Dr. Horace N. Allen (1858-1932), Toledo, Ohio, purchased from unknown owners, in Seoul, during 1884-1898 [2]

From 1907 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Dr. Horace N. Allen in 1907 [3]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [4]

Notes:

[1] Horace N. Allen acquired his collection in Seoul between 1884 and 1898. See Horace Allen, Copy of a Certified Catalogue of a Collection of Ancient Korean Pottery: purchased and owned by Horace Newton Allen (Nak Tong [Korea]: Seoul Press, 1901), pg. 7.

[2] See Original Pottery List, L. 1614, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. See also, Pamphlets S.I. 738 and S.I. 739, for Allen Correspondence, as well as Original Allen Catalogue, S.I. 1074, No. 12, pg. 11.

[3] See note 2.

[4] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919
Dr. Horace N. Allen (C.L. Freer source) 1858-1932

Description

Bowl: plain rim, slightly flaring foot with slight sandy adhesions.
Clay: porcelain, slightly off-white.
Glaze: transparent with fine bubbles over a pure white slip except on foot.
Decoration: lotus petals roughly cut in relief outside. Diagonal incisions around outside of footrim.

Label

This white porcelain bowl was fired somewhere in northern China, but scholars cannot yet determine whether it should be classified as Xing ware, Ding ware, or possibly from the Liao kilns.

Published References
  • Oriental Ceramics: The World's Great Collections. 12 vols., Tokyo. vol. 10, pl. 32.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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