H x W x D: 1.7 x 6.7 x 6.2 cm (11/16 x 2 5/8 x 2 7/16 in)
Type:
Vessel
Origin:
Red River Delta kilns, Hai Duong province, Vietnam
Date:
16th century
Period:
Later Le dynasty
Description:
Shape: Fragment of the wall and mouth of a green-glazed stoneware bowl. The mouth is everted and unglazed on the very top. Thickness of the bowl wall varies from 0.6 cm near the base to 0.3 cm just below the mouth.
Clay: Very fine, white, porcelaneous clay with a few dark inclusions and a modest number of small air pockets.
Glaze: The outside of the bowl is covered with a rich green glaze while the inside is coated with a clear glaze which shades to a delicate seawater green where it is thicker. Both glazes are uncrackled and of high quality. Judging from the pooling of the outside green glaze below the mouthrim and the relatively thicker coating of the inside of the bowl closer to the mouth, it appears that this bowl was one of two fired mouth to mouth, this having been the bowl on top. The green glaze on the outside shows a few spots where small particles of iron fired very dark and "bled" in the direction of the glaze flow (i.e., toward the mouth of the bowl).
Decoration: Two horizontal incised rings cirle the bowl approximately 0.6 - 0.8 cm below the mouth. Impressed grooves radiate upward from the foot and cover the top three-quarters of the outside of the bowl wall. The inside of the bowl is glazed but undecorated. The green glaze is much thicker in the depressions formed by these grooves, creating the impression of pronounced fluting.
Marks: None.
Provenance:
To 1957
Abu Ridho, Jakarta, Indonesia. [1]
1957
John A. Pope (1906-1982), Washington DC, gift of Abu Ridho, Jakarta, Indonesia. [2]
From 1957
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of John A. Pope, Washington DC [3]
Notes:
[1] See Curatorial Remarks 2 and 3 in the object record.
[2] See note 1.
[3] See note 1. See also object file, Collections Management Office.
