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Gallery Text

Chinese ceramic wares made in Song dynasty (960–1279) court taste are esteemed for their refined forms, subtle decoration, and soft, muted glaze colors. Buoyed by national peace, economic prosperity, and the rise of a highly educated civil official class, local ceramics industries throughout China began to thrive and innovate at unprecedented levels.

Kilns seeking to supply household wares to their highly cultured clientele often created pieces that were reminiscent of other precious items. For example, northern Ding wares, with their decorative designs and thin bodies, were often compared to silverwork, while the thick green glazes coating southern Longquan wares brought carved jades to mind. Although natural forms were popular, like those inspired by flower blossoms, government officials, who had attained their positions through long study of ancient texts and history, were especially drawn to ceramics that resembled the bronzes and jades of antiquity. Courtly taste in China would change drastically after the Song, shifting toward brightly decorated blue-and-white porcelains, invented at Jingdezhen in the fourteenth century and manufactured at the same kilns that produced the delicate blue-tinged white wares known as qingbai.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
2004.124
Title
Small, Steep-Sided Bowl with Lightly Flaring Lip and Decoration of Fish Swimming in Rolling Waves around a Dragon
Classification
Vessels
Work Type
vessel
Date
12th-early 13th century
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China, Shaanxi province, Tongchuan
Period
Jin dynasty, 1115-1234
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/176657

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Yaozhou ware: light gray stoneware with celadon glaze over molded decoration, the exterior with carved vertical lines suggesting petals. From the Yaozhou kilns at Tongchuan, Shaanxi province.
Dimensions
H. 4.2 x Diam. 10.3 cm (1 5/8 x 4 1/16 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Shirley Nye, New York (by 2004), gift; to Harvard University Art Museums, 2004.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Richard B. Nye in memory of Shirley Nye
Accession Year
2004
Object Number
2004.124
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Exhibition History

  • 32Q: 2600 East Asian, Japanese, Chinese and Korean, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 01/13/2020

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu