Page 88 - Decorative Arts, Part II: Far Eastern Ceramics and Paintings, Persian and Indian Rugs and Carpets

foot-ring and reignmark
on base of 1942.9.503

foot-ring and reignmark
on base of 1942.9.504

foot-ring and reignmark
on base of 1942.9.505
(left to right): 1942.9.504,1942.9.503,1942.9.505

1942.9.503 (C-356)

Water Pot

Qing dynasty, Kangxi mark and period (1662-1722)
Porcelain with peachbloom glaze, 7.6 x 9.9 (3 x 3%)
Widener Collection

INSCRIPTIONS
Inscribed in standard script on the base in underglaze blue in F THE EIGHT PRESCRIBED PEACHBLOOM shapes, this One
1
three vertical columns of two characters each: Da Qing Kangxi Ois rarely seen. In Chinese, the shape is described as
nian zhi [made in the Kangxi reign of the great Qing dynasty] pingguozun, or apple-shaped vessel, and it was used as a
water container for the writer's table. Others are in the
TECHNICAL NOTES Metropolitan Museum's Havemeyer Collection and in the
There is an inclusion in the glaze near the mouth. Pinholes Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. The shoulder rounds into
occur in the transparent glaze of the interior and the base. a depressed mouth with a plain lip. In accordance with the
There is a small glaze flaw on the base.
unvarying technique of this ware, the foot is unglazed.
The exposed porcelain is white and satiny to the touch.
PROVENANCE
M. Startseff, Tientsin. J. Pierpont Morgan [1837-1913], New There is a slight demarcation of the foot on the outside by
York. (Duveen Brothers, New York), sold to Peter A. B. Widener, means of a light trimming line in the biscuit. The foot is
Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; inheritance from slightly recessed. The interior and the base are covered
Estate of Peter A. B. Widener by gift through power of appoint- with a transparent glaze with a pale greenish blue tint. The
ment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. peachbloom glaze is lustrous and clear pinkish red with
lighter areas of ashy rose and one uneven horizontal streak
EXHIBITED of dark green below the shoulder. 2
On display, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, c. 1910-1911.
JK

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