Page 143 - Decorative Arts, Part II: Far Eastern Ceramics and Paintings, Persian and Indian Rugs and Carpets

1942.9-545-546 (C-398-399)

Bowls

Qing dynasty, late eighteenth/early nineteenth century
Porcelain with apple-green glaze,
1942.9.545: 7.3 x 10.9 (2% x 4V4)
9
1942.9.546: 6.5 x 9.6 (2 /i6 x 3%)
Widener Collection

TECHNICAL NOTES
1942.9.545: A light green enamel covers the interior, exterior, 1942.9.546 is slightly everted. The color of 1942.9.546 is a
and base of the vessel. The underlying glaze is gray-white. The darker emerald green over a darker, more visible crackle.
interior crackle is less pronounced and consistent than that on No enamel was applied to its base. It is also lighter in
the exterior. The green enamel stops in a neat line at the mouth, weight than 1942.9.545. 2
so that the mouth rim is simply covered with the underlying Another bowl, closest in shape to 1942.9.546, has been
gray-white glaze. At the foot a small amount of enamel flows described as a "brush-washer in the form of a bowl." 3
over the glaze onto the foot-ring. The unglazed foot-ring has
been coated with a deep brown wash. It shows almost no wear Indeed, two other apple-green vessels with incurving rims
and has a sheen. There is a small, deep flaw in the green glaze and globular form were similarly characterized; were it
along a crackle line on the base. 1942.9.546: The mouth rim and not for the three small legs added to each of these vessels,
4
the interior display a greenish white glaze with a wide dark they would be all but identical to 1942.9.545.
crackle, while the base is covered with a gray-white glaze with a VB
medium crackle. A serious crack, along which some of the
green overglaze enamel has chipped away, runs from the lip to
mid-body along one of the crackle lines. There are a few small NOTES
pinholes at the shoulder. The exterior edge of the unglazed foot
is brown on the exterior but reveals only a few dark spots of 1. Unfortunately, Clarke provided no descriptive information
what might have been a wash on the foot-ring itself. The green about Ta-kee as he had about Yan Li San (see the entry for
enamel at the foot flows over the greenish white underglaze at 1942.9.485-486), so it is difficult to speculate about his identity;
some points; it is better controlled at the mouth rim. the source for this information is the Widener collection
records kept by Edith Standen (now in NGA curatorial files).
PROVENANCE 2. This form is not unknown in other wares; a similar vessel,
1942.9.545: Thomas B. Clarke [1848-1931], New York; sold labeled a brush washer, with an oxblood glaze is in a private collec-
1913 to Peter A. B. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, tion in Germany. See Hempel 1974, 117, no. 183, repro. Another
Pennsylvania; inheritance from Estate of Peter A. B. Widener oxblood bowl, described as a "small water-container" and attrib-
by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, uted to the Qing dynasty, is in the National Palace Museum, Taipei:
Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. 1942.9.546: The Ta-kee Collection, 1 see Tsai 1986,39, no. 9, repro.
sold to Thomas B. Clarke [1848-1931], New York; sold 1913 3. Ceramic Society 1951, 59, no. 160, pi. 27, bottom row,
to Peter A. B. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, attributed to the Qianlong period. That vessel was described as
Pennsylvania; inheritance from Estate of Peter A. B. Widener "leaf green," which in the parlance of this exhibition catalogue
by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, indicates a shade darker than "apple-green," but not as intense
Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. as "cucumber green," to judge by the black-and-white plates.
4. Ceramic Society 1951, 55, no. 67, as Kangxi period. For the
OTH OF THESE SMALL BOWLS most likely functioned as other, see Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, sale,
Bbrush washers. The two differ in shape, color, and Sotheby's, New York, 31 May 1989, lot 172, repro., also attributed
weight. The lip of 1942.9.545 is inverted, while that of to the Kangxi period.

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