Object Details
- Description
- Blue-and-white.
- Clay: fine white porcelain.
- Glaze: transparent, faintly bluish.
- Decoration: in underglaze blue, waves, dragons, lotus panels outside. Six-character mark of the period inside bottom.
- Label
- This imperial bowl bears a Xuande reign mark in the interior. On the exterior it is decorated with two energetic, outstretched dragons gamboling among clouds. The base of the bowl is unglazed.
- Deep bowls with thick walls like the Freer's bowl are often called "dice bowls." The name refers to their use in games played by tossing dice into them. It is unclear when the tradition to use bowls in dice games began, but there is pictorial evidence from the Liao Dynasty of this tradition. A Liao mural painting on the south wall of the rear chamber of Zhang Shiqing's tomb in Xuanhua, Hebei Province, illustrates a servant holding a thickly potted bowl filled with dice. While this painting provides evidence that bowls were used in dice games, it does not necessarily prove that Ming dynasty bowls of this shape had an identical purpose. Ming records of this practice have not yet come to light; therefore, scholars are continuing research on the use of the Ming bowls.
- Collection
- Freer Gallery of Art Collection
- Exhibition History
- Luxury and Luminosity: Visual Culture and the Ming Court (July 3, 2004 to June 26, 2005)
- Chinese Ceramics (May 9, 1993 to April 17, 1995)
- Chinese Ceramics (April 11, 1978 to September 4, 1980)
- Chinese Art (January 1, 1963 to March 6, 1981)
- Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Ceramics (March 7, 1957 to January 1, 1963)
- Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Ceramics, 1955 (September 19, 1955 to November 10, 1955)
- Centennial Exhibition, Gallery 13 (November 10, 1955 to March 1, 1957)
- Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Art, 1953 (May 26, 1953 to September 15, 1953)
- Special Exhibition, Chinese Art, 1946 (August 7, 1946 to January 7, 1947)
- Stone Sculpture, Buddhist Bronze, and Chinese Painting (May 2, 1923 to February 25, 1956)
- Credit Line
- Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
- 1426-1435
- Period
- Ming dynasty, Xuande reign
- Accession Number
- F1945.35a-b
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- Vessel
- Medium
- Porcelain with cobalt under colorless glaze
- Dimensions
- H x Diam: 12.6 × 26.6 cm (4 15/16 × 10 1/2 in)
- Style
- Jingdezhen ware
- Origin
- Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, China
- Related Online Resources
- Google Arts & Culture
- See more items in
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
- Topic
- ceramic
- dragon
- Jingdezhen ware
- Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644)
- Xuande reign (1426 - 1435)
- lotus
- China
- porcelain
- Chinese Art
- Record ID
- fsg_F1945.35a-b
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ye3765e071b-eee4-4347-88d2-b991a44124ca
