| Celadon
Bowl with Lotus-Petal Decor Porcelain, Lung-ch'uan Ware Southern Sung, 12th-13th century Height: 8.6 cm, mouth diameter: 13.3 cm, base diameter: 7.4 cm
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With a straight mouth and deep body, the wall of this ring-based bowl is delicately carved in a continuous pattern of long carved lotus petals. Each petal was rendered with a knife with the center raised so that the glaze thinned and the color lightened there. Petals are placed in between in the background while another circle of shorter petals is near the base. Covered with a light pastel green glaze, it gives the appearance of a lotus bud having just blossomed. Perhaps this is what the Sung potter was trying to achieve. The glaze imparts a semi-translucent warmth that makes it look almost like jade. Light and dark are suggested by the ridges of the petals, where the greyish-white body comes close to the surface of the glaze. Lung-ch'uan ware was fired in kilns near Lung-ch'uan County in southern Chekiang province. It matured in the Southern Sung and spread far and wide, becoming one of the most popular ceramic types from the Sung to the Ming dynasties. It was even appreciated overseas and was a major export item. This ceramic ware was treasured from Japan to Southeast Asia, and even made its way to Europe, where prized examples were known as celadons in praise of their beautiful pastel-green glaze. Lung-ch'uan ware, often presented to the court as tribute, was fired with a range of pastel green or blue-green glazes. This work has a copper band along the mouth and the straight walls suggest that it probably once had a lid. |
