H x Diam (overall): 10.6 x 14.6 cm (4 3/16 x 5 3/4 in)
Type:
Vessel
Origin:
Red River Delta kilns, Hai Duong province, Vietnam
Date:
14th century
Period:
Tran dynasty
Description:
Round bowl, with almost straight sides, tapering slightly to a simple, sharply cut ring base. Glazed inside and out with a creamy white-green glaze. The base appears to have been cut down after firing, resulting in the loss of chips and glaze around the edges. The base is unglazed and the recessed center has a small amount of an orange-brown wash. The shape of the bowl is slightly irregular, and the mouth is slightly oval or elliptical. Gray-white stoneware.
A concave curve appears at the base of this deep, cylindrical beaker-shaped bowl with cool, grayish-ivory glaze. The undecorated surface is enlivened by considerable temperature differentiation between glossy "front" and matte "back," as well as irregular glaze flows. Similar shapes occur with underglaze-iron decoration and are dated 14th century (Stevenson and Guy 1997, p; 37, fig. 14). Inside a narrow, carved footrim is a pale swirl of iron pigment, related to the unexplained "chocolate bases" of many 14th century and later Vietnamese ceramics. Five small spur marks appear in the bottom.
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] The Chao Phraya proprietors explained that this object came from the collection of an Australian ambassador to Vietnam around 1982 (see Curatorial Note 2, Louise Cort, December 19, 1997, in the object record).
Collection:
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Exhibition History:
Vietnamese Ceramics from the Red River Delta (July 10, 2005 to November 15, 2009)
Beyond the Legacy--Anniversary Acquisitions of the Freer Gallery of Art (October 11, 1998 to April 11, 1999)
