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A pair of straw hat-shaped, white-glazed bowls
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| Object Name | A pair of straw hat-shaped, white-glazed bowls |
| Description | Each of this pair of bodiless (tuo tai) straw hat-shaped bowls (li shi wan) has a wide open mouth, a conical body tapering to the bottom and a footring. The bodiless porcelain, literally meaning 'casting off the body', is a kind of thin-bodied porcelain created during the Yongle reign of the Ming dynasty. As the name suggests, the vessel was so thin that it seemed bodiless and made up purely of glaze. Both the exterior and interior of these two bodiless bowls are smoothly covered with a glossy and translucent white glaze. The interior is decorated with two faintly incised dragon-chasing-pearl designs. Each dragon has double antlers and five claws, characteristic of the Imperial dragons which symbolized the Emperor. On the inside bottom there is the faintly engraved reign mark, "yong le nian zhi" (Made during the Yongle Reign [of the Ming dynasty]; 1403-1423) in seal script and two columns.
The Yongle white ware has a fine body with a nearly transparent, but slightly matte glaze. Their near transparency is possibly due to the very low calcium oxide content (c. 2.5 per cent) of the glaze. Accordingly, it may be considered as "a further stage in the development from qingbai (10 to 15 per cent) [(bluish white) ware of the Song dynasty] and shufu (4 to 6 per cent) [(Privacy Council) ware or luan bai" (egg-white) ware of the Yuan dynasty]. "The purity of the Yongle body and glaze materials resulted in wares superior to anything preceding them and they have traditionally been referred to in both Chinese and foreign texts as 'sweet white wares'." (Both quotations are from page 184, S. J. Vainker, Chinese Pottery and Porcelain <New York: George Braziller, Inc., 1991>.)
However, this pair of bodiless white glazed bowls is not of the Yongle production as claimed by the reign mark. Actually, after considering the transparency, glaze, writing style of the reign mark and decoration, they may be later Qing copies. First of all, both vessels, including their bottom are fully translucent, typical of the later Qing copies. The Yongle sweet white ware cannot exhibit full transparency like later copies because the Yongle bodiless porcelain is still fairly thick, especially on the bottom of vessels. Secondly, the white glaze on these two vessels appears pure white whereas the Yongle sweet white glaze usually displays a slight green color. Third, the Yongle reign mark on these two vessels is written in a regular and even style. Such a writing style is frequently found on later copies of the Yongle ware. As a matter of fact, the Yongle ware rarely bears a reign mark. The dated Yongle reign mark is usually written in irregular seal script. Lastly, the faintly incised decoration on these two bowls is still quite distinct. This is characteristic of later copies, and more specifically, the Yongzheng replicas. By comparison, the faintly incised designs on the Yongle ware is exceptionally 'faint (an hua)' and indistinct. |
| Country of Origin | China |
| Medium | Bodiless porcelain, white glaze, faintly incised decoration, wood, silk |
| Dimensions | Height 3.7 cm; Diameter at mouth 9.8 cm; Original black wood stand |
| Period | Qing dynasty
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| Date Original | Mid 17th to early 20th century; 1644-1911 A.D. |
| Location Number | AA-66 |
| Classification | Porcelain
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| Inventory Number | A52 |
| File Name | GAA_A52 |
| Repository | Special Collections, Gettysburg College |
| Contact Information | http://www.gettysburg.edu/special_collections/contact.dot |
| Rights | Digital images copyright Special Collections, Musselman Library, Gettysburg College. All rights reserved. For permission information, see http://www.gettysburg.edu/special_collections/policies/copyright_information.dot |
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