Peach-shaped cup

Cup, probably a brush-washer, half-peach form. Signature: Mingyuan, incised. Seal (positive), Chen Mingyuan, impressed.
Clay: beige-buff refined stoneware.
Glaze: none.
Decoration: peach branch with leaves and fruit, modeled in high relief. Slight spatter of red slip on peach tips.

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Maker(s)
Artist: Spurious signature of Chen Mingyuan (active late 17th-early 18th century)
Historical period(s)
Qing dynasty or Republic period, 19th-early 20th century
Medium
Stoneware with red slip
Style
Yixing ware
Dimensions
H x W x D: 5.4 x 11.2 x 9 cm (2 1/8 x 4 7/16 x 3 9/16 in)
Geography
China, Jiangsu province, Yixing
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1916.398
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Cup

Keywords
China, fruit, immortality, Modern period (1912 - present), Qing dynasty (1644 - 1911), scholar, slip, Yixing ware
Provenance

To 1916
Lai-Yuan and Company, New York, to 1916 [1]

From 1916 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Lai-Yuan and Company in 1916 [2]

From 1920
The Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

Notes:

[1] See Original Pottery List, L. 2487, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[2] See note 1.

[3] 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
Lai-Yuan & Company (C.L. Freer source) ca. 1915-April 1921

Description

Cup, probably a brush-washer, half-peach form. Signature: Mingyuan, incised. Seal (positive), Chen Mingyuan, impressed.
Clay: beige-buff refined stoneware.
Glaze: none.
Decoration: peach branch with leaves and fruit, modeled in high relief. Slight spatter of red slip on peach tips.

Label

A cup shaped like the peach of immortality made an ideal birthday or New Year's gift. Traces of ink indicate that this cup was used for washing brushes. The owner may have hoped for immortality for his writing as well as for himself.

This cup was made in Jiangsu Province in Yixing County, an area famous for producing unglazed colored-clay teapots and scholars' objects that are admired for their rustic elegance.

Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Whistler's Neighborhood
Google Cultural Institute
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