Fragment of the side wall of a covered box

Shape: Fragment of the side wall of a covered ceramic box. The box wall is 0.6 – 0.7 cm thick. The upper portion of the shard appears to be indented in the shape of a flange over which a cover would have fit. There is not enough of the flange remaining to determine its exact shape. Wheel-thrown.

Clay: Very fine-grained, white, porcelain clay having many fine, dark inclusions and few air pockets.

Glaze: A pale seawater-green glaze covers both the outside and inside of the box shard. The inside coating, however, is very thin. The glaze on the outside is uncrackled and assumes a deeper green hue where it pools in the incised design.

Decoration: Vertical incised lines reach from the edge of the flange to the bottom of the shard.

Marks: None.

Historical period(s)
Southern Song dynasty, 1127-1279
Medium
Porcelain with pale blue (qingbai) glaze
Style
Qingbai ware
Dimensions
H x W x D: 0.9 x 4.3 x 3.2 cm (3/8 x 1 11/16 x 1 1/4 in)
Geography
China, Jiangxi province, Jingdezhen
Credit Line
Gift of John A. Pope
Collection
Freer Study Collection
Accession Number
FSC-P-464
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Container
Type

Box (fragment)

Keywords
China, Qingbai ware, Southern Song dynasty (1127 - 1279), stoneware
Provenance

To 1957
John A. Pope (1906-1982), Washington DC, collected between August 1956 and April 1957 in Angkor, Cambodia. [1]

From 1957
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of John A. Pope, Washington DC [2]

Notes:

[1] See Curatorial Remark 2 in the object record. See also “Ceramics in Mainland and Southeast Asia: Collections in the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery”, copy in object file, Collections Management Office.

[2] See note 1. See also object file, Collections Management Office.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Dr. John Alexander Pope 1906-1982

Description

Shape: Fragment of the side wall of a covered ceramic box. The box wall is 0.6 - 0.7 cm thick. The upper portion of the shard appears to be indented in the shape of a flange over which a cover would have fit. There is not enough of the flange remaining to determine its exact shape. Wheel-thrown.

Clay: Very fine-grained, white, porcelain clay having many fine, dark inclusions and few air pockets.

Glaze: A pale seawater-green glaze covers both the outside and inside of the box shard. The inside coating, however, is very thin. The glaze on the outside is uncrackled and assumes a deeper green hue where it pools in the incised design.

Decoration: Vertical incised lines reach from the edge of the flange to the bottom of the shard.

Marks: None.

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