bowl BM-1975-1028.7

Period:Ming dynasty Production date:1400 (circa)
Materials:porcelain
Technique:glazed, underglazed,
Subjects:flower lotus
Dimensions:Diameter: 41.20 centimetres Height: 16 centimetres

Description:
Large porcelain serving bowl with underglaze blue decoration. This large blue-and-white serving bowl has rounded sides which curve inwards slightly towards the rim. It stands on a large foot ring cut inwards to the unglazed base which is coated with a brick-red slip, painted on with a brush. Inside the bowl the base is flat and the join of the sides to the foot ring is clearly visible. In the centre is a small medallion containing two chrysanthemum flowers blooming from the same stem and with foliage. Surrounding this is a ring of six stylized lotus flowers on a continuous stem with foliage, shown in three alternating views: one in profile, one from above and one with the seeds clearly visible. Encircling this at the base of the sides is a band of key-fret. A continuous composite flower scroll with eight assorted large lotus-like blooms is depicted in the cavetto. Around the rim is a narrow band of twelve lotus in a continuous scroll. Each band of decoration is separated by double underglaze blue lines. Outside is a composite flower scroll including lotus, chrysanthemum and peony flowers. Below this is a continuous band of eight chrysanthemums. The sixteen lappets below this are unusual as each one contains a single flower head outlined in blue with four rows of petals surrounding the centre. The foot is painted with key-fret. The base of the bowl is cracked and has been consolidated by ceramics conservators.
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Comments:Harrison-Hall 2001:In the past it was thought that this type of bowl was made in the Yuan era, but in recent years Chinese archaeologists have unearthed new evidence to redate this group of porcelains. Broken bowls of this size and shape, decorated with a similar pale underglaze blue but with variations to the overall design, were excavated from the Hongwu strata at Dongmentou, Zhushan, Jingdezhen, in 1994. Certain characteristics of the decoration of this excavated bowl, such as the lotus-scroll style and paired chrysanthemum blooms, are identical to those of the British Museum bowl. Like so many designs used for Yuan and early Ming porcelains, this type of decoration is also known on underglaze-red bowls. At the Jingdezhen Ceramic Archaeological Research Institute scientific research has revealed that the cobalt used in the Yuan and Hongwu periods is the same but that the poor appearance of Hongwu underglaze blue when compared to Yuan decoration is a result of differences in the glaze materials.There is a number of bowls of this type which survive in public collections. For example, three are in the Topkapi Saray one is in the Palace Museum, Beijing, another is in Suzhou, another in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, and another in the Freer Gallery in Washington.