Yellow-Glazed Bowl (1505–21): Art, History and Details

Yellow-Glazed Bowl (1505–21) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

Monochrome yellow–glazed porcelain appears first during the Ming dynasty and is the combined result of technological advancement, the requirements of state rituals, and aspirations of taste. The base bears a mark of the Zhengde (正德) reign period, renowned for its high-quality imperial porcelain, and a pleasure-seeking emperor who died in his youth. Imperial marks were permitted to be applied only by Jingdezhen workshops affiliated with the court. Most scholars believe that yellow monochrome ware was reserved for the use of the imperial household or served as diplomatic gifts. The color is therefore often called “imperial yellow.”

Object facts

• Title: Yellow-Glazed Bowl
• Date: 1505–21
• Culture: China, Jiangxi province, Jingdezhen kilns, Ming dynasty (1368–1644), Zhengde mark and reign (1505–21)
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: Porcelain with monochrome yellow glaze
• Dimensions: Overall: 8 x 18.9 cm (3 1/8 x 7 7/16 in.)
• Collection: China - Ming Dynasty
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 2020.180

A detail from the museum

Zhengde–marked bowls of this so-called imperial yellow type are also preserved in the National Palace Museum in Taipei and the Topkapi Saray, Istanbul, once the palace of the Ottoman sultans.

Collection credit

Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift

Further reading listed by the museum

• 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.
• "Exhibitions: Transformative Gift." Art & Antiques XLV, no. 10 (November 2022): 48–53.

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.