2007.218: Shallow Circular Bowl with Floral Decor

Identification and Creation

Object Number

2007.218

Title

Shallow Circular Bowl with Floral Decor

Classification

Vessels

Work Type

vessel

Date

12th century

Places

Creation Place: East Asia, China, Shanxi province

Period

Jin dynasty, 1115-1234

Culture

Chinese

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/323289

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Ding-type ware: porcelaneous white stoneware with ivory-hued glaze over molded decoration. Perhaps from kilns at Jiexu, Shanxi province.

Dimensions

H. 6.6 x Diam. 25.2 cm (2 5/8 x 9 15/16 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History

Eskenazi Ltd., London (Purchased by Gilbert and Stephanie Zuellig as a gift to the Harvard University Art Museums; the bowl was never a part of the Zuellig Collection.)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Gilbert and Stephanie Zuellig

Accession Year

2007

Object Number

2007.218

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

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Descriptions

Description

The walls of this shallow, circular bowl extend laterally from the circular footring (to form the vessel floor), then rise vertically to the mouth rim. The piece is fully glazed inside and out, save the bottom of the footring, which is unglazed (indicating that the bowl was fired right side up). The body clay is white and slightly transluscent; the grayish honey-yellow-hued glaze imparts a warm feel to the piece. The bowl was produced over a press mold set at the center of the potter's wheel: the mold determined the bowls shape and size and imparted the molded decoration on the interior; the potter's hands shaped the exterior and set the thickness of the walls. The potter cut the footring with a wood or bamboo scalpel after turning the bowl on the wheel. The bowl's interior boasts three registers of deocration over the cavetto, or side walls, and floor: at the very top is a narrow border of leaves; around the side walls is an undulating floral garland inhabited by baby boys, each of whom appears to support the garland's undulating stem; on the floor is an acquatic scene with various leaves and flowers, several fish, and a large bouquet of lotus blossoms, their stems bound together with a ribbon.

Publication History

• Harvard Art Museum, Harvard Art Museum Annual Report, ed. Thomas W. Lentz (Cambridge, 2007-2008), p. 46

Exhibition History

• Re-View: S228-230 Arts of Asia, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 05/31/2008 - 06/01/2013

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