Covered box

Round box with flat lid, tapering body, and flat base.
Clay: porcelain, grayish-white; flange of body rim chipped and worn.
Glaze: translucent white with bluish tint where thick, matte, coarsely crackled and stained in some areas of crackle; interior of body and lid glazed unevenly; base unglazed.
Decoration: in underglaze cobalt. Double ring surrounding central medallion containing six-pointed foliate motif. Four foliate clusters evenly spaced around edge, above single line near rim. On body, single line below rim and single line above base framing two sprays of three leafy branches each, alternating with two crescent-shaped motifs.
Mark: none.

Historical period(s)
Ming dynasty, 15th-16th century
Medium
Porcelain with cobalt pigment under clear glaze
Style
Jingdezhen ware
Dimensions
H x W x D: 3.9 x 5.5 x 5.5 cm (1 9/16 x 2 3/16 x 2 3/16 in)
Geography
China, Jiangxi province, Jingdezhen
Credit Line
Gift of Dean Frasché
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1989.8a-b
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Container
Type

Box

Keywords
China, cobalt pigment, flower, Jingdezhen ware, Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644), porcelain
Provenance

From 1959
Dean Frasché, collected in 1959 from Djakarta, Indonesia. [1]

To 1989
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Dean Frasché, Greenwich, Connecticut. [2]

Notes:

[1] Curatorial Remark 1 in the object record.

[2] See note 1. Also see Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List after 1920, Collections Management Office.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Dean Frasché 1906-1994

Description

Round box with flat lid, tapering body, and flat base.
Clay: porcelain, grayish-white; flange of body rim chipped and worn.
Glaze: translucent white with bluish tint where thick, matte, coarsely crackled and stained in some areas of crackle; interior of body and lid glazed unevenly; base unglazed.
Decoration: in underglaze cobalt. Double ring surrounding central medallion containing six-pointed foliate motif. Four foliate clusters evenly spaced around edge, above single line near rim. On body, single line below rim and single line above base framing two sprays of three leafy branches each, alternating with two crescent-shaped motifs.
Mark: none.

Published References
  • Louise Allison Cort, George Williams, David P. Rehfuss. Ceramics in Mainland Southeast Asia. Washington. .
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Ceramics in Mainland Southeast Asia
Google Cultural Institute
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