Skip Navigation

Pair of Bowls

Asian Art

The imperial porcelain factories of Jingdezhen experimented with a wide range of colors in the early Qing Dynasty. Transparent enamels, including the dark yellow seen here, were applied either directly on the unglazed porcelain body or over a fired porcelain with a thin, clear glaze. The colors are very fluid and during firing they fill the fine lines that have been carved into the porcelain. Qing court regulation specified all-over yellow vessels for the use at the emperor, empress, and empress dowager, but actual practice was not as rigid as the regulations suggest.

MEDIUM Porcelain with monochrome glaze
  • Place Made: Jiangxi, China
  • DATES 1722–1735
    DYNASTY Qing Dynasty
    PERIOD Yongzheng Period
    DIMENSIONS height: 2 1/2 in. (6.3 cm); diameter: 5 3/8 in. (13.7 cm) each, excluding stands: 1/8 in. (0.3 cm)  (show scale)
    INSCRIPTIONS 6-character standard script inscription, written in cobalt-blue underglaze: "Made during the Yongzheng reign of the great Qing."
    COLLECTIONS Asian Art
    ACCESSION NUMBER 78.146.2
    CREDIT LINE Bequest of Helen Babbott Sanders
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Everted mouth; curved belly that gradually contracts down; circular foot. Monochrome glaze. Incised interlocking floral and grass sprays on interior and exterior of vessel. 6-character standard script inscription, written in cobalt-blue underglaze: "Made during the Yongzheng reign of the great Qing." Low-temperature yellow glaze on interior and exterior (iron produces the color). Clear glaze on bottom of base. Imperial ware (object used in palace). Condition: Intact.
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Pair of Bowls, 1722–1735. Porcelain with monochrome glaze, height: 2 1/2 in. (6.3 cm); diameter: 5 3/8 in. (13.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Bequest of Helen Babbott Sanders, 78.146.2. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 78.146.2_bw.jpg)
    IMAGE group, 78.146.2_bw.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
    You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
    RECORD COMPLETENESS
    Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.
     <em>Pair of Bowls</em>, 1722–1735. Porcelain with monochrome glaze, height: 2 1/2 in. (6.3 cm); diameter: 5 3/8 in. (13.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Bequest of Helen Babbott Sanders, 78.146.2. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 78.146.2_bw.jpg)