Page 141 - Decorative Arts, Part II: Far Eastern Ceramics and Paintings, Persian and Indian Rugs and Carpets

1942.9-544 (C-397)
Small Jar

Qing dynasty, late eighteenth/early nineteenth century
5
Porcelain with apple-green glaze, 10.8 x 9.2 (4^ x 3 /s)
Widener Collection

TECHNICAL NOTES
The underlying glaze is grayish white, with a dark uneven
crackle, undoubtedly stained on the mouth rim and interior.
This glaze was applied to the base and was then covered with the
green enamel—it exhibits some iridescence, especially on the
lower portion of the jar, and a few pinholes are visible. The
crackle on the base is very fine, unlike that on the body There is
noticeable kiln debris in the interior. The foot-ring is unglazed
but shows traces of the dark wash applied to the vessel.

PROVENANCE
Richard Bennett, Northampton, England; sold 1914 to (Gorer,
London); (Dreicer & Co., New York, agent for Gorer, London);
sold 1914 to Peter A. B. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park,
Pennsylvania; inheritance from Estate of Peter A. B. Widener by
gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener,
Elkins Park, Pennsylvania.

HIS VESSEL IS ABOUT HALF THE SIZE of the Other two
Tapple-green jars in the Widener collection, 1942.9.533
1
and 534, and of similar shape. It is closer in size but still
smaller than the apple-green jar from the Steele collection,
1972.43.29, and differs from each of these jars in some
important ways. Of particular significance is the fact that
the base is covered in green enamel, a characteristic gener-
2
ally associated with later apple-green wares. The inky
color in the crackle is more stark than the brown stain
used in 1942-9-533 and 534. The gauge of the crackle is not
uniform, varying from very large to very small, which may
also point to a later date.
VB

NOTES
1. Its size is close to two unpublished jars of similar shape in
the Altman collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New
York: 14.40.349 (4% in. or 12.2 cm), which has an unglazed foot;
T
and 14.40.342 (4 /2 in. or 11.5 cm) with a base covered in gray-
white glaze with brown crackle. Another small apple-green jar
of this type is in a private collection in Germany; its base is also
covered with the grayish white underlying glaze. See Hempel
1974,117, no. 179, repro.
2. The vessel 14.40.350 in the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York, also has a green enamel base, but it differs from this
piece in its color, a paler green, and in its crackle, which is
smaller and not so dark. The other object in the National
Gallery collection with green enamel on the base is a bowl,
1942.9.545, which is rather closer in color quality of crackle.

REFERENCES
1911 Gorer: 75, no. 378.

P O R C E L A I N S 125