Page 52 - Decorative Arts, Part II: Far Eastern Ceramics and Paintings, Persian and Indian Rugs and Carpets

1972.43-5 l^-56o)
Stem Bowl

Ming dynasty, Xuande mark and period (1426-1435)
Porcelain with underglaze blue decoration, 8.3 x 15.6
1
1
(3 /4x6 /s)
Harry G. Steele Collection, Gift of Grace C. Steele
INSCRIPTIONS
Inscribed in standard script on the interior in underglaze blue to the Percival David Foundation, London. 4 A second
in one column of six characters: Da Ming Xuande nian zhi example, similar to the National Gallery vessel, is in the
[made in the Xuande reign of the great Ming dynasty] National Palace Museum, Taipei. It varies only in having
5
its original lid and in being inscribed in the more com-
TECHNICAL NOTES mon format of two parallel lines of three characters
The stem bowl is finely thrown from a smooth paste. The foot
is hollow and glazed on the interior. The foot-ring is carefully within a double circle. A white monochrome variant is
6
beveled. Minute scratches are visible on the interior glaze sur- also in the National Palace Museum. While its reign-
face. The underglaze cobalt oxide pigment has a smudged mark is written in underglaze blue on the interior, as in
appearance due to slight overfiring in the kiln. the National Gallery stem bowl, the Eight Auspicious
Emblems are lightly incised into the porcelain body in
PROVENANCE the anhua (secret- or hidden-decoration) technique.
(C. T. Loo, New York); sold June 1941 to Harry G. Steele The stem bowl, an orthodox Buddhist ritual shape,
[1881-1941], Pasadena; his widow, Grace C. Steele. was produced with little variation through the remain-
der of the Ming dynasty. Examples (several of which are
ADE DURING ONE OF THE FINEST PERIODS of blue-and- decorated with overglaze enamels) survive with reign-
7
Mwhite porcelain production in the early fifteenth marks of the Zhengde (i5o6-i52i) and Wanli (i573-i62o) 8
century, this vessel exemplifies the high quality wares emperors.
created at the kiln center of Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province, SL
for the imperial court in Beijing.
The transparent glaze has a bluish tonality, and the
painted designs in underglaze blue exhibit the "heaped NOTES
and piled" effect, in which particles of cobalt have oxi- 1. For a discussion of this effect and its cause, see Medley 1976,
dized on the glaze surface during firing. 1 On the interior 177-178.
a double line appears below the lip. At the interior center 2. Williams 1976,157.
a reignmark (nianhao) appears in a line of descending 3. Garner 1970, pi. 3oc.
characters. This is enclosed within a double rectangle, 4. Medley 1963, no. 6630.
which is in turn enclosed within a double circle. A dou-
ble line encircles the lip on the exterior. Below this, the 5. National Palace 1963, 4:2:2, pi. 33.
bowl is decorated with a lotus scroll comprising eight 6. Hsuan-te 1980, pi. 114.
flowers joined by leafy tendrils. Above each flower is one 7. National Palace 1963, 7: 2, pi. 6.
of the Eight Auspicious Emblems of Buddhism: a pair of 8. Medley 1963, no. 6698.
fish, a lotus flower, a canopy, a parasol, a conch shell, the
Wheel of the Dharma, an endless knot, and a vase. These
respectively symbolize freedom, purity, righteousness,
respect, the Buddha's voice, the Buddhist Law or
Doctrine, compassion, and truth. 2
This shape first appears in the early fifteenth century,
and is related to the lianzi wan (lotus-pod bowl). 3 The
presence of the Eight Auspicious Emblems on the exteri-
or indicates that this stem bowl was designed specifically interior of 1972.43.5
for use in Buddhist rituals. An identical example belongs with reignmark

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