 |  |  |
Detail, Bottle with cut glaze (sgraffito) decoration
|
| |
Continues indefinitely
Freer Gallery of Art |
This exhibition showcases the remarkably rich variety of glossy black-glazed wares and brilliant white porcelain, as well as eye-catching combinations of both colors on single vessels, created during the Song (960–1279) and Yuan (1279–1368) dynasties. These beautiful objects—produced as the result of important developments in Chinese ceramic technology—elicited lyrical commentary by contemporary users, who compared the streaked dark glazes to "hare's fur" and likened the bluish-white "qingbai" ware to "icy jade."
Most of the 58 objects on view are tablewares, wine jars, and vases and range from extremely handsome everyday goods to examples fit for an emperor. Drawing on the strengths of the Freer Gallery collection (notably its Ding, Cizhou, Jian, and Jizhou wares), this exhibition presents the aesthetic, social, and technical dimensions of these ceramic achievements by highlighting their variety of color and effect. In some of the most striking works, the color of the clay or texture of the glaze itself is the focal point of the otherwise undecorated object. Others feature modes of decoration that emerged to suit the colors and materials including black-on-black painting, black-on-white painting, incisions through the glaze or into the body, and mold-impression.
| |
| |
Online Exhibition
Iraq and China
More Chinese Art
• Arts of China
• Ancient Chinese
Pottery and Bronze
• Xu Bing: "Monkeys Grasping for the Moon"
Chinese Art in Our Collections
Center for the Art of East Asia
Resources on East Asian art at the University of Chicago
|
|
