Browse: 10610 objects
White ware bowl with two dragons and clouds
- loan
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Details
- Associated place
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Asia › China › Jiangxi province › Jingdezhen › Jingdezhen kilns (place of creation)
- Associated people
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Yongle, Emperor of China (ruled 1403 - 1424) (named on object)
- Material and technique
- porcelain, thrown, with slip and incised (an hua) decoration under a white glaze; base with underglaze painting in cobalt-blue inscription
- Dimensions
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4.8 cm (height)
9.4 cm (diameter)
- Material index
- Technique index
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- Object type index
- No. of items
- 1
- Credit line
- Lent by the Sir Alan Barlow Collection Trust.
- Accession no.
- LI1301.114
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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. C87
Glossary (4)
glaze, porcelain, slip, underglaze painting
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glaze
Vitreous coating applied to the surface of a ceramic to make it impermeable or for decorative effect.
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porcelain
Ceramic material composed of kaolin, quartz, and feldspar which is fired to a temperature of c.1350-1400⁰c. The resulting ceramic is vitreous, translucent, and white in colour.
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slip
A semi-fluid clay applied to a ceramic before glazing either to coat the surface or for decorative effect.
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underglaze painting
Painting applied to ceramic material before a transparent, or monochrome or coloured glaze for Islamic objects, is applied. The technique was initially developed in China.
Location
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- 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
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The Barlow Collection
Anhua (‘hidden decoration’) was a complicated decoration technique used mainly in the Yongle period (1403–1424) and rarely thereafter. The designs are very delicately moulded, probably in slip relief, and are generally visible only when the pieces are held against the light.
The rounded bowl flares towards the rim and is supported on a straight foot. The inside is decorated in anhua with two dragons and two cloud motifs, impressed and one clearly visible against the light and in slight relief, the other hard to make out. The base is inscribed with a spurious six-character Yongle reign mark in a double ring, inscribed in thin lines in a pale underglaze-blue.
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