Page 270 - Decorative Arts, Part II: Far Eastern Ceramics and Paintings, Persian and Indian Rugs and Carpets

1972.43-11-13 (C-566-568)
Vases

Qing dynasty, late eighteenth century
Porcelain with underglaze blue decoration over white
slip ground,
3
1972.43.11:13.0 x 7.0 (5 Vs x 2 /4)
9
1972.43.13:11.6 x 6.2 (4 /i6 x 2^6)
Porcelain with underglaze blue decoration,
5
1972.43.12: 11.7 x 6.6 (4% x 2 /s)
Harry G. Steele Collection, Gift of Grace C. Steele
TECHNICAL NOTES
1972.43.11: The lip has a slight bulge, and there are two raised 1972.43.12: This small, thickly potted vase has a cream-
horizontal lines halfway down the neck. The foot-ring is colored glaze with a light-brown crackle pattern. The ves-
beveled. 1972.43.12: A brown iron oxide coating surrounds the sel's size suggests it was designed for a scholar's desk.
lip. The foot-ring is sharply trimmed, revealing a dense grayish Painted in dark outlines with translucent washes of uni-
white paste, and the base is recessed and glazed. There is a small form tonality, the decoration comprises a narrow ascend-
repaired chip in the lip. 1972.43.13: Like 1972.43.10, this vase has ing-and-descending chevron band around the neck, a
1
a white slip under the glaze. It is very light in weight, and the
surface has an uneven texture. The foot-ring is narrow and wide central band of stylized lotus flowers and tendrils,
rounded; the base is recessed and glazed. Both the lip and the and bands of stylized petals and vertical stripes around
foot are encircled by two blue lines. the foot. These floral and geometric designs consciously
imitate an early Ming-dynasty (fifteenth-century) style of
PROVENANCE porcelain decoration.
1972.43.11: (Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York); sold December 1972.43.13: The decoration on this vase is a scene of a
1940 to Harry G. Steele [1881-1941], Pasadena; his widow, Grace scholar fishing on a river bank. He has a broad-brimmed
C. Steele. 1972.43.12: (Parish-Watson Gallery, New York); sold to hat and is stroking his beard. Behind are two tall rocks,
Harry G. Steele [1881-1941], Pasadena; his widow, Grace C. Steele. around which grow a willow tree and other foliage.
1972.43.13: Harry G. Steele [1881-1941], Pasadena; his widow, Coming down a path at the right is a man carrying an old
Grace C. Steele.
woman on his back. The man is dressed in short trousers,
a tunic, and straw shoes. These figures may represent the
1972.43.11: devoted son Jiang Ge with his mother. Jiang Ge is the
HIS VASE CONSISTS OF a globular central section that ninth of the twenty four paragons of filial piety. He lived
3
Trises into a narrow cylindrical neck. Below the cen- during the eastern Han dynasty; he is described as having
tral section is a gently sloping foot. A crackled glaze cov- carried his mother on his back as he journeyed through-
ers the surface suggesting that it is made of steatitic out China in search of work. Behind these figures the
(huashi) porcelain. This type first appeared in China at path climbs at a steep angle, turning into an abrupt cliff.
the beginning of the eighteenth century, and was gener- Clumps of bamboo grow from the base of the cliff.
ally limited to small objects made for the scholar's desk. 2 This finely painted vessel was most likely designed for a
The foot-ring is covered with an iron oxide wash, per- scholar's desk, since porcelains with painting over a white
haps in imitation of Song-dynasty crackled Guan-type slip were more expensive than those with painting direct-
wares with dark clay bodies. The blue decoration is execut- ly on the body and are generally associated with special
ed in thin outlines with two tonalities of wash. Within the production for the refined taste of scholars.
outlines there is some painted texture. The scene is of two SL
scholars conversing beneath two trees on a riverbank. The
buds on the trees suggest that the season is early spring. In
the water is a fisherman in his boat; the mountainous far
bank of the river appears beyond him. The disc of the sun NOTES
hangs in the sky. The opposite side is undecorated. 1. Van Oort and Kater 1982,114.
Steatitic porcelain enjoyed a revival in the late eigh- 2. See the entry on 1972.43.10 for a description of this tech-
teenth and early nineteenth centuries. This vessel can be nique; also note 6 in the essay on Chinese ceramic techniques in
dated to the period of revival on the basis of its shape this volume.
and style of painting. 3. See Chen 1920, 43-44.

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