2009.68: Cupstand with Circular Rim and Russet Glaze

Identification and Creation

Object Number

2009.68

Title

Cupstand with Circular Rim and Russet Glaze

Classification

Vessels

Work Type

stand

Date

probably 11th century

Places

Creation Place: East Asia, China, Hebei province, Quyang

Period

Song dynasty, Northern Song period, 960-1127

Culture

Chinese

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/332039

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Russet Ding ware: porcellaneous stoneware with mottled russet-surfaced, dark brown glaze. Probably from the kilns at Jianci village, possibly from those at East or West Yanchuan village, Quyang county, Hebei province.

Dimensions

H. 6.9 x Diam. 12.7 cm (2 11/16 x 5 in.)

Inscriptions and Marks

• label: The object includes no original marks or inscriptions. However, four modern paper labels are adhered inside the footring and on the underside of the "saucer"; in addition, a red accession number reading "69.3.34" is painted inside the footring. The labels are those from the Arthur M. Sackler Collection and from the Christie's, New York, December 1994 auction. The red accession number painted inside the footring is that of the Arthur M. Sackler Collection.

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History

Edward T. Chow, Geneva, Switzerland (1930s-1950s); Ruth Dreyfus, London (1950s-1969); Arthur M. Sackler (1969-1994); [Christie's, New York, December 1994], sold; to Marvin and Pat Gordon, San Franciso (1994-2009); [J.J. Lally & Co., New York, 2009], sold; to Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University, 2009.

Note: Edward T. Chow (1910-1980); Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Purchase through the generosity of Leonard P. Braus, Mr. and Mrs. James E. Breece, III, William M. Carey, Joseph M. Cohen, Christina Marcove, and Dyann and Peter Wirth and through the Ernest B. and Helen Pratt Dane Fund for Asian Art

Accession Year

2009

Object Number

2009.68

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

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Descriptions

Description

In profile, this elegant cupstand resembles a small bowl resting on a high-footed saucer. Of circular form, the saucer portion sits on a tall, hollow, circular foot that is lightly splayed. The alms-bowl-shaped receptacle rises from the center of the saucer, its walls turning in delicately at the mouth. Although the receptacle was turned without a floor, the top of the saucer, to which it is fused, effectively closes the opening at the bottom of the receptacle so that is walls do not flow directly into the hollow footring. Semilustrous and slightly variegated, a russet-surfaced, dark brown glaze covers the entire piece, including the interior of the receptacle as well as the base and the inside of the footring; only the bottom of the footring was left unglazed. The receptacle and the saucer were separately turned on the potter's wheel and then luted together after drying. The glaze was applied by dipping, the smudges on the footring documenting the points where the potter held the piece while applying the glaze. The cupstand was fired right side up, standing on its own footring. A new, Chinese, red-fabric-covered storage box accompanies this piece.

Publication History

• Robert D. Mowry, Hare's Fur, Tortoiseshell, and Partridge Feathers: Chinese brown- and black-glazed ceramics, 400-1400, exh. cat., Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 1996), pp. 102-105, no. 12
• The Collection of Dr. and Mrs. Marvin L. Gordon: Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, March 12 to April 4, 2009, auct. cat., J.J. Lally & Co. (New York, NY, 2009), no. 41

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