A blue-green porcelain cup that stands on a small, rounded foot. The bowl is low and wide and flares slightly at the lip. There are small indents around on the lip.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

A blue-green porcelain circular cup that stands on a small, rounded foot on a pale background. The bowl is low and wide and flares slightly at the lip. There are small indents around on the lip. The edge of the lip is slightly paler than the rest of the piece.

Gallery Text

Chinese ceramic wares made in Song dynasty (960–1279) court taste are esteemed for their refined forms, subtle decoration, and soft, muted glaze colors. Buoyed by national peace, economic prosperity, and the rise of a highly educated civil official class, local ceramics industries throughout China began to thrive and innovate at unprecedented levels.

Kilns seeking to supply household wares to their highly cultured clientele often created pieces that were reminiscent of other precious items. For example, northern Ding wares, with their decorative designs and thin bodies, were often compared to silverwork, while the thick green glazes coating southern Longquan wares brought carved jades to mind. Although natural forms were popular, like those inspired by flower blossoms, government officials, who had attained their positions through long study of ancient texts and history, were especially drawn to ceramics that resembled the bronzes and jades of antiquity. Courtly taste in China would change drastically after the Song, shifting toward brightly decorated blue-and-white porcelains, invented at Jingdezhen in the fourteenth century and manufactured at the same kilns that produced the delicate blue-tinged white wares known as qingbai.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1950.96
Title
Foliate Cup with Flaring and Notched Lip
Classification
Vessels
Work Type
vessel
Date
12th-13th century
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China, Jiangxi province, Jingdezhen
Period
Song dynasty, Southern Song period, 1127-1279
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/203956

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Qingbai ware: porcelain with pale sky-blue glaze
Technique
Qingbai
Dimensions
H. 4.2 x Diam. 10.3 cm (1 5/8 x 4 1/16 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
C. T. Loo, Paris (by 1950), gift; to Fogg Art Museum, 1950.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of C.T. Loo in memory of Anne Scott Thomson
Accession Year
1950
Object Number
1950.96
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Exhibition History

  • Masterworks of East Asian Painting, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 11/03/1995 - 06/09/1996
  • Plum, Orchid, Chrysanthemum, and Bamboo: Botanical Motifs and Symbols in East Asian Painting, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 07/06/2002 - 01/05/2003
  • 32Q: 2600 East Asian, Japanese, Chinese and Korean, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 01/13/2020

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu