Bowl (one of a pair)

Mid-12th century

China, Shaanxi Province

Stoneware with carved and combed design under glaze (Yaozhou ware)

H. 2 1/8 x Diam. 5 3/8 in. (5.4 x 13.7 cm)

Asia Society, New York: Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, 1979.134

This bowl and another in the Asia Society Collection (1979.133) form a pair. The sketchy treatment of the carved blossoms in the interior of these bowls and the reliance on the use of the time-saving comb for the wave design are typical of 12th-century mass production of ceramics, evidenced also by the use of molds at the Ding kilns in Hebei Province. The green glaze, here with olive tones, is one of a series of experiments with iron coloring pigments that reach back to early periods in Chinese history. The range of colors in jade may have inspired this pursuit of a diversity of colors in ceramics.