This tall slender tomb jar from the Southern Song dynasty is one of eight such elaborately decorated vessels that Freer displayed as pairs in the Peacock Room in Detroit. He purchased this example from the New York gallery of Yamanaka and Company, and he was told it and other "specimens of this kind" had been "recovered from ancient Buddhist tombs" in Korea. It is now known to be Chinese in origin and to date to the thirteenth century. Originally an accoutrement of burial in both China and Korea, it would have been paired with another jar of the same shape, both of which would have held funeral offerings of grain meant to assist the deceased in the afterlife.

Tomb jar

Qingbai ware

13th century

Southern Song dynasty

Porcelain with transparent pale-blue (qingbai) glaze

HxW: 48.4 x 16.5 cm

China

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

2

207

West

Tomb jar

F1906.252

Yamanaka and Co.

New York

New York

United States

http://141.217.97.109/plugins/Dropbox/files/peacock-jpg/JPEG/F1906.252.jpg

Tomb jar

Qingbai ware

13th century

Southern Song dynasty

Porcelain with transparent pale-blue (qingbai) glaze.

HxW: 49.1 x 17.1 cm

China

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

2

191

West

Tomb jar

F1906.251

Yamanaka and Co.

New York

New York

United States

http://141.217.97.109/plugins/Dropbox/files/peacock-jpg/JPEG/F1906.251.jpg

Tomb jar

Longquan-type ware

13th century

Southern Song dynasty

Stoneware with celadon glaze

HxW: 39.4 x 15.5 cm

China

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

2

121

South

Tomb jar

F1903.232

Yamanaka and Co.

New York

New York

United States

http://141.217.97.109/plugins/Dropbox/files/peacock-jpg/JPEG/F1903.232.jpg

This slender tomb jar dating to the Southern Song dynasty in the thirteenth century is one of a dozen similar funeral wares purchased by Freer from the New York gallery of Yamanaka and Company. In the Peacock Room in Detroit, it was displayed as a pair with another Southern Song tomb jar with a similar crackled, gray-green celadon glaze. The two vessels were symmetrically arranged on the top shelves of what is now the south wall, flanking Whistler's mural of fighting peacocks.

Tomb jar

Longquan-type ware

13th century

Southern Song dynasty

Stoneware with celadon glaze

HxW: 40.1 x 14.8 cm

China

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

2

90

South

Tomb jar

F1903.233

Yamanaka and Co.

New York

New York

United States

http://141.217.97.109/plugins/Dropbox/files/peacock-jpg/JPEG/F1903.233.jpg

When Freer acquired this bowl as part of a group acquisition in 1907, it (and a number of similar examples) was believed to have been made in Korea, on account of their provenance. Scholars now agree, however, that most white wares like this, despite having been found in Korean tombs, were, in fact, made in China. This qingbai porcelain bowl, which dates to the second half of the twelfth century, was part of the collection of. Horace Allen, a former missionary and then ambassador to Korea. When Allen returned to Dayton, Ohio, and decided to sell his ceramics collection, he received high offers for individual pieces. He opted instead to keep the collection intact. Freer agreed to the purchase under that condition and noted upon review of his new wares, "Can some of them be Chinese?"

Bowl

Qingbai ware

second half 12th century

Southern Song dynasty

Porcelain with transparent pale blue (qingbai) glaze

HxW: 7.2 x 20.1 cm

China

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

2

68

East

Bowl

F1907.291

Dr. Horace N. Allen

Toledo

OH

United States

http://141.217.97.109/plugins/Dropbox/files/peacock-jpg/JPEG/F1907.291.jpg

Application of a thin, transparent blue glaze which produces what has been characterized as a "cold white light" onto white porcelain is characteristic of Chinese Ch'ing pai ware. The effect is a translucency which alters according to its lighting. This Southern Song dynasty bowl is a classic example of that ceramic period. Under the glaze on the interior of the bowl is an excised design sometimes known as "boys among peonies." The coloration of the glaze is also slightly more saturated in the interior. This piece was purchased by Freer as part of the Horace Allen collection of Korean pottery and was originally thought to have been produced in that country.

Bowl

Qingbai ware

second half of 12th century

Southern Song dynasty

Porcelain with transparent pale blue (qingbai) glaze

HxW: 7.0 x 20.0 cm

Jingdezhen

China

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

2

67

East

Bowl with incised decoration

F1907.290

Dr. Horace N. Allen

Toledo

OH

United States

http://141.217.97.109/plugins/Dropbox/files/peacock-jpg/JPEG/F1907.290.jpg

This tall slender tomb jar from the Southern Song dynasty is one of eight such elaborately decorated vessels that Freer displayed as pairs in the Peacock Room in Detroit. He purchased this example from the New York gallery of Yamanaka and Company, and he was told that it and other "specimens of this kind" had been "recovered from ancient Buddhist tombs" in Korea. While that was probably true, this particular jar is now known to be Chinese in origin and to date to the thirteenth century. Originally an accoutrement of burial in China as well as Korea, it would have been paired with another jar of the same shape, both of which would have held funeral offerings of grain meant to assist the deceased in the afterlife.

Tomb jar

Qingbai ware

13th century

Southern Song dynasty

Porcelain with bluish transparent (qingbai) glaze

HxW: 36.3 x 11.3 cm

China

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

2

39

North

Tomb jar

F1904.321

Yamanaka and Co.

New York

New York

United States

http://141.217.97.109/plugins/Dropbox/files/peacock-jpg/JPEG/F1904.321.jpg

This tall slender tomb jar from the Southern Song dynasty is one of eight such elaborately decorated vessels that Freer displayed as pairs in the Peacock Room in Detroit. He purchased this example from the New York gallery of Yamanaka and Company, and he was told that it and other "specimens of this kind" had been "recovered from ancient Buddhist tombs" in Korea. While that was probably true, this particular jar is now known to be Chinese in origin and to date to the thirteenth century. Originally an accoutrement of burial in China as well as Korea, it would have been paired with another jar of the same shape, both of which would have held funeral offerings of grain meant to assist the deceased in the afterlife.

Tomb jar

Longquan ware

13th century

Southern Song dynasty

Stoneware with celadon glaze

HxW: 47.9 x 17.5 cm

Longquan

China

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

2

20

North

Tomb jar

F1906.250

Yamanaka and Co.

New York

New York

United States

http://141.217.97.109/plugins/Dropbox/files/peacock-jpg/JPEG/F1906.250.jpg

This tall slender tomb jar from the Southern Song dynasty is one of eight such elaborately decorated vessels that Freer displayed as pairs in the Peacock Room in Detroit. He purchased this example from the New York gallery of Yamanaka and Company, and he was told that it and other "specimens of this kind" had been "recovered from ancient Buddhist tombs" in Korea. While that was probably true, this particular jar is now known to be Chinese in origin and to date to the thirteenth century. Originally an accoutrement of burial in China as well as Korea, it would have been paired with another jar of the same shape, both of which would have held funeral offerings of grain meant to assist the deceased in the afterlife.

Tomb jar

Qingbai ware

13th century

Southern Song dynasty

Porcelain with bluish transparent (qingbai) glaze.

HxW: 36.7 x 11.0 cm

China

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

2

18

North

Tomb jar

F1905.91

Yamanaka and Co.

New York

New York

United States

http://141.217.97.109/plugins/Dropbox/files/peacock-jpg/JPEG/F1905.91.jpg

This tall slender tomb jar from the Southern Song dynasty is one of eight such elaborately decorated vessels that Freer displayed as pairs in the Peacock Room in Detroit. He purchased this example from the New York gallery of Yamanaka and Company, and he was told that it and other "specimens of this kind" had been "recovered from ancient Buddhist tombs" in Korea. While that was probably true, this particular jar is now known to be Chinese in origin and to date to the thirteenth century. Originally an accoutrement of burial in China as well as Korea, it would have been paired with another jar of the same shape, both of which would have held funeral offerings of grain meant to assist the deceased in the afterlife.

Tomb jar

Longquan ware

13th century

Southern Song dynasty

Stoneware with celadon glaze

HxW: 55.6 x 15.6 cm

Longquan

China

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

2

6

North

Tomb jar

F1906.249

Yamanaka and Co.

New York

New York

United States

http://141.217.97.109/plugins/Dropbox/files/peacock-jpg/JPEG/F1906.249.jpg