Page 124 - Decorative Arts, Part II: Far Eastern Ceramics and Paintings, Persian and Indian Rugs and Carpets

1942.9-535 (C-388), 1942-9-537 (€-390), 1942-9-542 (C-395)
Bottle Vases

Qing dynasty, late seventeenth/early eighteenth century
Porcelain with apple-green glaze,
l
1942.9.535:18.2 x 11.1 (7 /s x 4%)
3
1942.9.537: 16.6 X lO.J (6 /2 X 4 /i6)
l
3
1942.9.542:18.8 x 12.3 (7 /s x 4%)
Widener Collection
TECHNICAL NOTES
1942.9.535: The white porcelain body is covered with a pale gray
crackled high-fire glaze, then coated on the outside of the ves-
sel with a brilliant emerald green enamel through which shows
the darkened crackle of the base glaze. This gray layer is visible
at the lip, on the inside, and at the base. The unglazed wedge-
shaped foot is dressed with a thin, dark slip, perhaps to simu-
late the "iron foot" of Song-period Guan ware. The base layer
stops neatly at the foot, but the green glaze continues onto the
outside of the foot, forming a shiny thin coating over the dull
slip. 1942.9.537: The iridescence in the green enamel is similar to
that of 1942.9.535, but its paler green tone makes the effect less
immediately apparent. What is more noticeable is the crystal-
lized appearance of the glaze, particularly at the shoulder.
Occasionally the green enamel extends over the underlying
grayish white glaze onto the foot, and upward to the top of the
exterior mouth rim. The crackle in the underlying glaze is quite
wide, and it does not appear to have been stained. The
unglazed, wedge-shaped foot is covered with a light brown slip,
some of which has worn off. The base and interior are covered
solely with the grayish white glaze. 1942.9.542: Iridescence in the
green enamel glaze is particularly noticeable on the neck and
shoulder, and as with 1942.9.537 there is a crystallized appear-
ance of the glaze at the shoulder. The crackle is somewhat dark-
er near the foot and on the neck, but it does not appear to have
been stained. This glaze ends in a neat line above the unglazed,
wedge-shaped foot, dressed with a brown slip, while the green
enamel ends rather unevenly just above the foot. Three pin-
holes are visible in the grayish white glaze that covers the base.

PROVENANCE
1942.9.535 and 1942.9.537: Richard Bennett, Northampton,
England; sold 1911 to (Gorer, London); (Dreicer & Co., New
York, agents of Gorer); sold 1914 to Peter A. B. Widener,
Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; inheritance from HE ROUNDED BODY OF THE BOTTLE VASE CUTVCS into the
Estate of Peter A. B. Widener by gift through power of appoint- Tnarrow neck, forming a simple and traditional pot-
ment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. tery shape. Since this popular monochrome ware was
1942.9.542: Thomas B. Clarke [1848-1931], New York; sold made throughout the eighteenth century and into the
before 1915 to Peter A. B. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, nineteenth, it is not easy to distinguish the early exam-
Pennsylvania; inheritance from Estate of Peter A. B. Widener by ples. 1 However, these three vases and 1942.9.543 have
gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener,
Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. characteristics of form and color that justify placing
them in the Kangxi period. In oral communication, 2
Fong Chow, then assistant curator of Far Eastern art at
the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, expressed
the view that Kangxi wares had "squarish shapes," and
consequently suggested a Kangxi date for the apple-
green bottle vases in the National Gallery collection. All

108 D E C O R A T I V E A R T S