Large Bowl with Molded Decoration (1300s–1400s): Art, History and Details

Large Bowl with Molded Decoration (1300s–1400s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The lobed sides of this bowl open like a flower and rise to a solidly molded and pointed rim reminiscent of metalware. The bowl with a thick, shiny, jadelike green glaze was made by potters who mastered techniques to fire vessels of enormous sizes for the export market. Large bowls and plates were primarily shipped to the Middle East where they were used for banquets, in which food was traditionally offered in the center of a seated gathering.

Object facts

• Title: Large Bowl with Molded Decoration
• Date: 1300s–1400s
• Culture: China, Zhejiang province, Longquan kilns, Ming dynasty (1368-1644)
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: Porcelaneous stoneware
• Dimensions: Overall: 15.1 x 42 cm (5 15/16 x 16 9/16 in.)
• Collection: China - Ming Dynasty
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 2020.188

A detail from the museum

Longquan celadon, or greenware, was often fired in dragon kilns, a type of narrow, sloped brick tunnel that could fire up to 25,000 pieces at a time.

Collection credit

Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift

Further reading listed by the museum

• Medley, Margaret. The Chinese Potter: A Practical History of Chinese Ceramics. London, England: Phaidon Press Limited, 1989.
• Von Spee, Clarissa. "Chinese Ceramics and Works on Paper." In The Keithley Collection at the Cleveland Museum of Art, edited by Heather Lemonedes Brown, 194–229. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2022.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.