Chinese / Bowl / Ming period, Xuande era, 1426-1435Chinese
Bowl
Ming period, Xuande era, 1426-1435

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Creator Nationality: Asian; Far East Asian; Chinese
Creator Name-CRT: Chinese
Title: Bowl
View: Full View
Creation Start Date: 1426
Creation End Date: 1435
Creation Date: Ming period, Xuande era, 1426-1435
Creation Place: China, Jiangxi Province
Object Type: Decorative Arts and Utilitarian Objects
Classification Term: Ceramics
Materials and Techniques: Porcelain painted with underglaze cobalt blue (Jingdezhen ware)
Dimensions: H. 3 1/8 in. (7.9 cm); D. 8 3/4 in. (22.2 cm)
AMICA Contributor: Asia Society
Owner Location: New York, New York, USA
ID Number: 1979.162
Credit Line: Asia Society: The Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection
Rights: http://www.asiasociety.org
Context: Noted for their refined bodies and elegant shapes, porcelains made during the reigns of the Xuande (1426-1435) and Chenghua (1465-1487) emperors of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) are ranked among the finest examples of imperial Chinese wares. Many of the characteristics of 15th-century porcelains result from increased imperial interest in ceramics. Ceramic production during this time--which was the near-exclusive domain of the imperial Jingdezhen kilns in Jiangxi Province--is noted for the development and refinement of techniques for making and decorating wares, experimentation with shapes and designs, and the widespread use of reign marks (inscriptions that identify the name of the dynasty and the reign name of an emperor).

A six-character Xuande mark is written on the exterior base of this elegant bowl. The decoration, painted in underglaze blue on the interior and exterior, illustrates a theme common in Xuande-era porcelains: the combination of flowers and fruits, sometimes as symbols of the four seasons or the twelve months. Three lotuses and a chrysanthemum, a peony, and a camellia spray are painted around the interior of this bowl, while an unidentified flowering branch is at the center. Litchi, peach, loquat, pomegranate, grape, camellia, cherry, and chrysanthemum sprays decorate the exterior. The delicate sense of vitality of these fruits and flowers as well as the ease of their careful placement over the surface of the bowl, giving the design a subtle sense of movement and naturalness, characterize the decoration of porcelains during the Xuande era and help to distinguish pieces like this from earlier examples.


Related Document Description: Asia Society. Handbook of the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection. New York: Asia Society, [1981], p. 73.
Related Document Description: Lee, Sherman E. Asian Art: Selections from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd. New York: Asia Society, 1970, pp. 60, 61, 74.
Related Document Description: Medley, Margaret. 'Style and Symbolism in Underglaze-Decorated Chinese Porcelain.' Apollo (November 1983), p. 405.
Related Document Description: Sotheby and Co. Chinese Ceramics (auction, London, March 24, 1964), p. 38.
AMICA ID: ASIA.1979.162
AMICA Library Year: 1999
Media Metadata Rights: Copyright, Asia Society

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