Medallion-Pattern Bowl with Design of Ducks, Lotus and a Pair of Fish (Yaozhou ware, "Northern Celadon")

Artist Chinese , Shaanxi province

Datelate 11th century –early 12th century, Northern Song dynasty (960-1127)

Mediumstoneware with mold-impressed designs under a lime-alkali glaze, tinted by iron and titanium

Dimensions20.7 cm (8 1/8 in.)

ClassificationsCeramics

Credit LineStoddard Acquisition Fund

Terms

porcelain

Object number2008.46

DescriptionYaozhou ware (“Northern celadon”).
Stoneware with mold-impressed designs under
a lime-alkali glaze, tinted by iron and titanium.
Label Text“Celadon” is a Western term referring to various shades of gray-green, blue-green or olive-green. The term is also used to refer to greenwares (qingci) with glazes of such nuances. The Chinese appreciation of greenwares is closely linked with their passion for jades. Yaozhou greenware was developed during the 10th century and was soon produced in kiln complexes in at least three provinces in North China, the nucleus being the kilns in Shaanxi province. Yaozhou ware is often called “northern celadon” in order to distinguish it from Longquan ware produced in South China, known as “southern celadon.” Yaozhou ware was made of fine-grained stoneware clays in expressive shapes influenced by contemporary metalwork and lacquers. Unlike classic Longquan ware (cf. 1996.98), which was sometimes deliberately under-fired, Yaozhou ware was fully fired in reduction at the higher temperature of about 1280–1300ºC, in a coalfired mantou kiln. Compared to the thick Longquan ware glaze, which had a smooth, slightly “oily” texture, the Yaozhou ware glaze was thinner and more transparent. Furthermore, it had a warmer fresh-green or olive-green hue due to slightly higher amounts of iron and titanium impurities present in a higher titanium- to-iron ratio in its clay-body-material. Minute bubbles and surface pitting also gave the Yaozhou ware glaze a silken sheen and texture. Emulating Ding ware decoration, Yaozhou ware was at first often carved and incised and then increasingly mold-impressed in order to save time and labor. A freshly thrown clay bowl would be inverted and pressed onto a master-mold upon which designs had been carved on the exterior before firing. Gaining a positive relief-imprint on its inside surface, the newly mold-impressed bowl would then be glazed and fired. Compared to Ding whiteware, Yaozhou ware had the advantage of the contrast given to the decoration by its darker stoneware body and the feldspathic glaze that pooled darkly in the carved or molded areas of the decorative design. The rare medallion pattern on this deep molded bowl reflects a creative synthesis of Ding ware motifs and Tang dynasty designs influenced by Central Asian works. Six medallions with alternating naturalistic designs of ducks and lotus flowers form a circle around a central, six-petal flower medallion featuring two fish. Since ducks and lotus, as well as paired fish, symbolize a wish for matrimonial bliss, a dish like this would have been a suitable wedding gift.

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