Vase

Vase

Shiwan kilns

18th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Stoneware with Guan-style glaze

Shiwan (Shekwan) ware

HxW: 27.4 x 18.5 cm

F1907.55a-b

http://141.217.97.109/plugins/Dropbox/files/peacock-jpg/JPEG/F1907.55a-b.jpg

2

132

West

Qing dynasty

China

Vase in form of cong

Vase

Shiwan kilns

Strong horizontal and vertical lines characterize this Ming dynasty vase decorated with narrow bands in relief. It is a square shape&#151;known as <i>cong</i>&#151;that combines a square outer tube with a circular inner section. The form appears much earlier, in ancient Chinese jades. Here, the stoneware form is adapted for use as a flower-vase; its brilliant deep cream glaze that has a slight iridescence. Freer purchased it in 1907 during a trip to China.

16th-mid 17th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Stoneware with opaque ivory glaze

Shiwan (Shekwan) ware

HxW: 22.7 x 9.1 cm

F1907.44

http://141.217.97.109/plugins/Dropbox/files/peacock-jpg/JPEG/F1907.44.jpg

2

130

West

Ming dynasty

China

Vase

Vase

Shiwan kilns

Western connoisseurs who collected Chinese ceramics at the turn of the century knew relatively little about earlier wares. Since the meticulously formed and decorated Qing dynasty porcelains were generally regarded as the culminating achievement of a centuries-old tradition, it was assumed that the earlier wares must be more heavily potted and glazed. Thus, when Freer purchased this vase in 1896, he accepted the Song dynasty date assigned to it, though it is now known to be from the Ming dynasty. In the Peacock Room in Detroit, it was displayed along the south wall, amid more than forty bright blue Jun or "Jun style" ceramics. This lustrous, creamy white vase was one of several similarly toned vessels that Freer seems to have used on the south wall to punctuate the "harmonies in blue" created by the massing of Jun ware around the sideboard.

17th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

R. E. Moore

Stoneware with opaque white glaze

Shiwan (Shekwan) ware

HxW: 23.6 x 18.9 cm

F1896.35a-b

http://141.217.97.109/plugins/Dropbox/files/peacock-jpg/JPEG/F1896.35a-b.jpg

2

122

South

Ming dynasty

China

United States

New York

New York

Vase in lotus bud form (neck cut down)

Vase

Shiwan kilns

Freer purchased this vase, which was produced in China during the Ming dynasty, from the New York branch of Yamanaka and Company. It is molded in the shape of a lotus flower, and the glaze is milky gray and crackled with areas of pale blue. It was no doubt the varied colors of the surface that appealed to Freer, who organized his ceramics in the Peacock Room according to the color harmonies that he appreciated in the paintings of Whistler and the American tonalists.

16th-mid 17th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Yamanaka and Co.

Stoneware with opaque white glaze

Shiwan (Shekwan) ware

HxW: 17.9 x 23.3 cm

F1900.3a-c

http://141.217.97.109/plugins/Dropbox/files/peacock-jpg/JPEG/F1900.3a-c.jpg

2

112

South

Ming dynasty

China

United States

New York

New York

Bottle

Bottle

Shiwan kilns

This piece, part of the 1898 sale of the Charles Dana collection, was described in the auction catalogue as "invested with a rich yellow and pale claire de lune glaze, permeated by a double crackle in violet and brown." Freer circled the entry and noted, "Most perfect." The reference to <i>claire de lune</i> suggests that Freer and his contemporaries regarded this as an example of Jun ware, which was produced in Henan province of China from the Song dynasty through the fifteenth century. Jun ware is characterized by its distinctive glazes, which range from greenish-blue to lavender and lavender-blue with violet splashes or marks. This bottle is actually a later example of a Jun-style glaze. In the Peacock Room, which Freer called "the blue room," this bottle was one of more than forty Jun or similarly blue-glazed ceramics displayed along the south wall, just beneath Whistler's allegorical mural of two battling peacocks.

17th-19th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Stoneware with rice-straw ash glaze

Shiwan (Shekwan) ware

HxW: 17.0 x 16.3 cm

F1898.46

http://141.217.97.109/plugins/Dropbox/files/peacock-jpg/JPEG/F1898.46.jpg

2

95

South

Qing dynasty

China

Vase

Vase

Shiwan kilns

Speculating about the date of this Chinese vase, Freer mused, "The paste suggests Sung, but the glaze is Yuanish. Learn dynasty and, if possible, province." He had purchased this piece, along with seventeen other specimens, from the Dana Collection Sale, where it was described in the auction catalogue as a "tall jar, with gray crackle, claire-de-lune glaze, broken by crimson and purple splash" Although he was unsure of its precise attribution, Freer did believe this example&#151;with its distinctive blue glaze&#151;was Jun ware, produced in Henan province of China from the Song dynasty through the fifteenth century. It is actually a later example of a Qing dynasty Jun-style glaze. In the Peacock Room, which Freer called "the blue room," this bottle was one of more than forty Jun or Jun-style ceramics displayed along the south wall, just beneath Whistler's allegorical mural of two battling peacocks.

mid 17th-18th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Stoneware with Jun-style glaze

Shiwan (Shekwan) ware

HxW: 30.4 x 12.2 cm

F1898.32

http://141.217.97.109/plugins/Dropbox/files/peacock-jpg/JPEG/F1898.32.jpg

2

88

South

Qing dynasty

China

Vase with relief design of peony scroll

Vase

Shiwan kilns

Western connoisseurs who collected Chinese ceramics at the turn of the century knew relatively little about earlier wares. Since the meticulously formed and decorated Qing dynasty porcelains were generally regarded as the culminating achievement of a centuries-old tradition, it was assumed that the earlier wares must be more heavily potted and glazed. Thus, when Freer purchased this jar in 1894, he accepted the Song dynasty date assigned to it. However, its robust shape, lustrous glaze, and bold floral decoration are characteristic of the Shiwan wares made in Guangdong province during the late Ming and Qing dynasties. This vase is an especially fine example of Shiwan ware, and its quality helps explain why both Chinese and Western collectors originally valued such objects so highly.

17th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

R. E. Moore

Stoneware with opaque white glaze

Shiwan (Shekwan) ware

HxW: 32.3 x 23.6 cm

F1894.3a-b

http://141.217.97.109/plugins/Dropbox/files/peacock-jpg/JPEG/F1894.3a-b.jpg

2

83

East

Ming dynasty

China

United States

New York

New York