Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

Ashmolean − Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

The Barlow Collection

A select catalogue of the Barlow collection of Chinese Ceramics, Bronzes and Jades by the University of Sussex (published Sussex, 2006).

The Barlow Collection by the University of Sussex

Publications online: 456 objects

Reference URL

Actions

Send e-mail

Contact us about this object

Send e-mail

Send to a friend

White ware bowl with inscription

  • loan
  • Literature notes

    The inscription on this bowl states that the piece was made in the second year of the Song dynasty (AD 960–1279) at Junzhou, but pieces of this type were not made until much later, and not at Junzhou in Henan but at Cizhou in Hebei. Moreover, the inscription is formulated in a manner not used in antiquity. For a related genuine bowl, inscribed with a poetic line, recovered from a Yuan dynasty (1279-1368) shipwreck in Ci county, Hebei province, see Kaogu [Archaeology], 1978, no.6, pl.6, fig.1.

    The bowl is of low rounded form, with slightly flared rim, and straight foot, unevenly slanting towards the base. The rough, buff-coloured stoneware body is covered with a white slip applied in two layers, both leaving the lowest part of the outside, foot and base free. The first layer ends unevenly halfway down the sides, the second higher up. A transparent glaze is covering the inside and the upper third of the outside, turning the double layer of slip into a clear creamy white and reaching further down in uneven patches, which have turned into glassy greenish spots. The inside was inscribed under the glaze in iron brown with a dated inscription, enclosed by bands of uneven width below the rim.
  • Details

    Associated place
    Asia China (place of creation)
    Date
    1911 - 1937
    Material and technique
    stoneware, thrown, covered in white slip, and with brown slip-painted decoration under a transparent glaze
    Dimensions
    6 cm (height)
    19 cm (diameter)
    Material index
    Technique index
    Object type index
    No. of items
    1
    Credit line
    Lent by the Sir Alan Barlow Collection Trust.
    Accession no.
    LI1301.213
  • Further reading

    University of Sussex, and Arts and Humanities Research Council, The Barlow Collection, supervised by Regina Krahl, Maurice Howard, and Aiden Leeves (Sussex: University of Sussex, 2006), no. C202

Glossary (3)

glaze, slip, stoneware

  • glaze

    Vitreous coating applied to the surface of a ceramic to make it impermeable or for decorative effect.

  • slip

    A semi-fluid clay applied to a ceramic before glazing either to coat the surface or for decorative effect.

  • stoneware

    Ceramic material made of clay which is fired to a temperature of c.1200-1300⁰c and is often buff or grey in colour.

Location

    • currently in research collection

Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.

 

Publications online

  • The Barlow Collection by the University of Sussex

    The Barlow Collection

    The inscription on this bowl states that the piece was made in the second year of the Song dynasty (AD 960–1279) at Junzhou, but pieces of this type were not made until much later, and not at Junzhou in Henan but at Cizhou in Hebei. Moreover, the inscription is formulated in a manner not used in antiquity. For a related genuine bowl, inscribed with a poetic line, recovered from a Yuan dynasty (1279-1368) shipwreck in Ci county, Hebei province, see Kaogu [Archaeology], 1978, no.6, pl.6, fig.1.

    The bowl is of low rounded form, with slightly flared rim, and straight foot, unevenly slanting towards the base. The rough, buff-coloured stoneware body is covered with a white slip applied in two layers, both leaving the lowest part of the outside, foot and base free. The first layer ends unevenly halfway down the sides, the second higher up. A transparent glaze is covering the inside and the upper third of the outside, turning the double layer of slip into a clear creamy white and reaching further down in uneven patches, which have turned into glassy greenish spots. The inside was inscribed under the glaze in iron brown with a dated inscription, enclosed by bands of uneven width below the rim.
Notice

Object information may not accurately reflect the actual contents of the original publication, since our online objects contain current information held in our collections database. Click on 'buy this publication' to purchase printed versions of our online publications, where available, or contact the Jameel Study Centre to arrange access to books on our collections that are now out of print.

© 2013 University of Oxford - Ashmolean Museum