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Conical Bowl with Blossoming Plum

A glazed stoneware bowl with a very deep blue color depicting an abstract blossoming plum, which looks very much like a tight spider web.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A glazed stoneware bowl with a very deep blue color depicting an abstract blossoming plum, which looks very much like a tight spider web.

Date:

Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279)

Artist:

China, Jiangxi province

About this artwork

This bowl’s striking, variegated blue hue was created accidentally during firing, when the iron-rich glaze chemically reacted with a mixture of wood or bamboo ash that was applied to its surface. The original dark brown hue is preserved in the more thinly coated rim and in the hauntingly delicate pattern of blossoming plum that was applied in resist by a stencil of cut paper. As the first flower to bloom in late winter, the plum blossom was associated with beauty, renewal, and fortitude, and became an auspicious motif in Chinese painting and decorative arts during the Song dynasty.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Arts of Asia

Title

Conical Bowl with Blossoming Plum

Place

China (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1127–1279

Medium

Jizhou ware; glazed light gray stoneware with reserved papercut decoration

Dimensions

5.6 × 17.8 cm (2 3/16 × 7 in.); Diam.: 17.8 cm (7 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Russell Tyson

Reference Number

1944.597

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/51432/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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