Cover for "Circular Covered Box with Peony Décor"
10th - early 11th century
Description
The slightly domed cover of this circular box features a molded, carved, and incised design of a lush peony blossom supported by a slender, gently curving leafy stem. The composition is contained within a double-line circle, which is itself surrounded by a border sporting ten lightly incised decorative scroll motifs. The bottom section of the box is unembellished; the underside of the box reveals a countersunk foot. A grayish green glaze covers the entirety of the box, inside and out, with the exception of the circular rims where the two halves of the box meet and patches within the countersunk foot, where spurs were presumably placed in order to raise the vessel slightly during firing and prevent it from fusing to kiln furniture.
Dimensions
including lid: H. 5 x Diam. 12.1 cm (1 15/16 x 4 3/4 in.)
Provenance
[Warren E. Cox, New York (1950s)]. [The Chinese Porecelain Company, New York, (by 1996)], sold; to Ralph C Marcove, New York (1996-2001) inherited; by Christina J. Marcove, New York (2001-2015), gift; to the Harvard Art Museums.
Related Artworks
View MoreEarthenware with slip painted decoration painted and white inlays
2nd millennium BCEChineseEarthenware with impressed decoration
3rd millennium BCEChineseBlack basaltes with ochre and cream encaustic decoration
18th centuryBritishLongquan celadon ware: light gray stoneware with incised and carved decoration. From the Longquan kilns at Longquan, Zhejiang province.
15th-16th centuryChineseTerracotta
1st-3rd century CERomanBronze, traces of silvering and possible gilding
5th century BCEGreekBlue-and-white ware: porcelaneous white stoneware with decoration painted in underglaze cobalt-blue
15th centuryVietnameseTerracotta, with bronze attachment
5th century BCEGreekEarthenware with bichrome slip-painted decoration
3rd millennium BCEChineseKutani ware, Ao-Kutani type: porcelain with overglaze polychrome enamels
19th centuryJapanese