Jingdezhen ware
(China)
- Title
- Bowl
- Place of origin
-
Jingdezhen →
Jiangxi Province →
China
- Period
- Xuande 1426 - 1435 → Ming dynasty 1368 - 1644 → China
- Year
- circa 1455
- Media category
- Ceramic
- Materials used
- porcelain with underglaze blue decoration
- Dimensions
-
10.3 x 21.3cm
- Credit
- Purchased 1975
- Accession number
- 56.1975
- Location
- Lower Asian gallery
- Further information
Exemplifying the mature refinement of the classic Ming aesthetic, this bowl from the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen embodies the ideals of serenity and harmony. Although its eloquent form with a gently curled lip attests to the technical supremacy of the Ming potter, the real hallmark of the imperial Ming style is expressed in the harmony of form and decoration: the manner in which the lotus scrolls on the exterior - and the six lotus blooms around a peony spray on the inside of the bowl - flow seamlessly around the vessel. On the deeply recessed base the bowl carries the six-character mark of the Xuande reign drawn in underglaze blue. In spite of this mark, the undisputed quality of the bowl, and the characteristic bluish clear glaze with its 'orange skin' surface, a slightly later date of c. 1450-65 is suggested by a few anomalies: notably the specific design of the lotus scroll and the weight of the bowl relative to its size.
Art Gallery Handbook, 1999. pg.253.
Reference should be made to a period of 30 years between the end of the Hsuan-te (Xuande) and the beginning of the Ch'eng-hua (Chenghua) reigns, often referred to by collectors as the 'interregnum'. There are considerable gaps in our positive knowledge of ceramic history over these years, but we do know that it was an important period of transition during which there occurred a marked change in the body and glaze quality and in style of decoration, culminating in the more refined and delicate types of Ch'eng-hua (Chenghua) porcelains. Many pieces of excellent quality, some bearing the Hsuan-te (Xuande) reign mark, are thought on stylistic and other grounds to have been made during the 'interregnum'. (Margaret Medley, 'Regrouping fifteenth century blue and white' in Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, London 1963-4; Sir Harry Garner, 'Oriental Blue and White' preface to the 3rd edition, London, 1970, p.xxi.) This is one such piece. (J.H. Myrtle, 'A Fifteenth Century Ming Blue and White Bowl', in Art Gallery of New South Wales Annual, Sydney, 1977.)
Hepburn Myrtle, 'Chinese Porcelain of the Ming and Ch'ing Dynasties', Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 1977. p8.
- Bibliography (7)
-
'Far Eastern Art in the Art Gallery of New South Wales' by Edmund Capon, pg. 22-29., The Connoisseur May 1980, May 1980, 25 (colour illus.).
Bruce James (Australia) (Author), Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940) (Director), Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, Domain, 1999, 253 (colour illus.).
J. Hepburn Myrtle (Australia, b.1911, d.1998) (Author), Chinese porcelain of the Ming and Ch'ing dynasties, Sydney, 1977, 8,19,43,59 (illus.). cat.no. 15. See Further Information for text.
'Pottery prices make big gains' by Florence Chong, pg. 25., Sun 31 Dec 1980, 31 Dec 1980, 25 (illus.).
Editor Unknown (Editor), Catalogue of Acquisitions 1975, Domain, 1977, 8-16, 17 (illus.), 18 (illus.), 19 (illus.), 136 (illus.). cat.no. 260, plate nos. 1,2,3
'Chinese Porcelain in the Collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales' by Julian Thompson, pg. 96-103., Orientations Sep 2000, Sep 2000, 97 (colour illus.). fig.2
'The Marvel of Porcelain', The Asian Collections Art Gallery of New South Wales 2003, 2003, 116 (colour illus.).
- Exhibition history (1)
-
Chinese porcelain of the Ming and Ch'ing dynasties, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 18 Feb 1977–26 Jun 1977.
