Bowl with incised decoration

Round bowl, almost hemispherical in shape, with a flat base, and slightly incurving rim. Incised on the exterior with a broad lotus petal design on the lower body, and covered inside and out with a brown-green glaze. Base is unglazed. Pronounced crackle to the glaze. One side of the bowl is slightly dented and has a firing flaw/contact mark from leaning against another vessel in the kiln.

This small bowl with inverted rim was decorated before glazing with eight lotus petals rising from the base, casually incised with double lines. Horizontal double lines ring the mouth and the widest point of the body. Numerous specks of iron have bled into the glossy, olive-green celadon glaze. The flat base is unglazed; the bottom bears five triangular spur marks inside an incised ring.

Historical period(s)
Tran dynasty, 13th-14th century
Medium
Stoneware with celadon glaze
Dimensions
H x Diam (overall): 8.9 x 15.9 cm (3 1/2 x 6 1/4 in)
Geography
Vietnam, Hai Duong province, Red River Delta kilns
Credit Line
Purchase — funds provided by the Docents of the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1998.11
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Bowl

Keywords
lotus, stoneware, Tran dynasty (1225 - 1400), Vietnam
Provenance

To 1998
Chao Phraya Gallery, Washington, DC, acquired from an unidentified collector, to 1998 [1]

From 1998
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Chao Phraya Gallery in 1998

Notes:

[1] According to the proprietors of the Chao Phraya Gallery, this object came from a collector who had acquired it in Indonesia around 1982 (see Curatorial Note 3, Louise Cort, December 19, 1997).

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Chao Phraya Gallery

Description

Round bowl, almost hemispherical in shape, with a flat base, and slightly incurving rim. Incised on the exterior with a broad lotus petal design on the lower body, and covered inside and out with a brown-green glaze. Base is unglazed. Pronounced crackle to the glaze. One side of the bowl is slightly dented and has a firing flaw/contact mark from leaning against another vessel in the kiln.

This small bowl with inverted rim was decorated before glazing with eight lotus petals rising from the base, casually incised with double lines. Horizontal double lines ring the mouth and the widest point of the body. Numerous specks of iron have bled into the glossy, olive-green celadon glaze. The flat base is unglazed; the bottom bears five triangular spur marks inside an incised ring.

Published References
  • Louise Allison Cort, George Williams, David P. Rehfuss. Ceramics in Mainland Southeast Asia. Washington. .
  • Betonamu no toji [Vietnamese Ceramics Exhibition]. Exh. cat. Fukuoka City, Japan. .
  • John Stevenson, John Guy, Louise Allison Cort. Vietnamese Ceramics: A Separate Tradition. Chicago. .
  • Thomas Lawton, Thomas W. Lentz. Beyond the Legacy: Anniversary Acquisitions for the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. vol. 1 Washington, 1998. pp. 212-213.
Collection Area(s)
Southeast Asian Art
Web Resources
Ceramics in Mainland Southeast Asia
Google Cultural Institute
F|S Southeast Asia
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