Bowl with Carved Design
Unknown Artist
1100s–1200s
Medium
Porcelain with pale bluish-white (qingbai) glaze
Dimensions
6.5 × 17.2 cm
Classification
Ceramic
Department
Chinese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift
Accession Number
2020.182
About this artwork
This conical bowl and the shallow and wide one (CMA 2020.183) are both hand-incised with decoration suggesting waves, clouds, or floral sprays. All of these motifs had auspicious meaning: waves and clouds bring rain that fertilizes the fields, and flowers and plants were often associated with the beauty of human virtues. The carved and combed designs were swiftly cut with a wooden tool into the unfired leather-hard body before glazing. Once the glaze was applied, it pooled in the incised areas r...