Annamese dish with floral design
Object No. A7285
This large, beautifully painted dish is a fine example of the output of Vietnamese potters who produced large quantities of trade ceramics for export to Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines from the 1300s to 1500s. The range of shapes, techniques and designs were adapted form Chinese blue and white ceramic forms, although the form and decoration of this large round dish have a distinctively Vietnamese fluidity. Vietnamese ceramics are made from local clays and are technically very fine. The early works are known as Annamese, from 'Annam', the Chinese name for Vietnam. Although early Vietnamese wares owe much to Chinese style and technology, they became progressively more Vietnamese in character from the 1200s and 1300s. Major kiln sites were located in northern Vietnam, near foreign trade routes which supported their extensive export. The best known of these included stoneware bottles, bowls, dishes, cups and kendi with a range of underglaze cobalt-blue designs that blend scenes from Chinese painting and Vietnamese calligraphic flower motifs. Christina Sumner, Curatorial research, March 2019
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Summary
Object Statement
Dish (dia bang da), lotus pond design, Annamese, stoneware, maker unknown, Vietnam, 1400-1450
Physical Description
A large circular grey-buff bodied stoneware dish with a ring foot with a narrow resting surface, gently curving sides, a slightly raised rim and a vertical lip, the cavetto with an uneven surface. The interior face of the foot and the flat undersurface painted with brown oxide (chocolate slip). The outer body and interior with a thick crackled blueish glaze. The interior painted in cobalt blue underglaze with four double and single concentric bands, from the centre to the rim. The central area is decorated with a stylised lotus design, then the bands of cloud squiggles, a plain band, a wide band of stylised leaves and blossoms and a scrolled band. The exterior is painted with a band of false gadroons (lotus panels), each with a leaf form pattern. The is underglazed and there are wheel marks visible on the undersurface, with splashes of glaze and a fragment of clay fired to the base.
DIMENSIONS
Height
71 mm
Diameter
351 mm
PRODUCTION
Notes
This large dish was made in north Vietnam in the first half of the 1400s. In the centre is the lotus pond design surrounded by cloud scrolls and flaming pearls, which is often found in Chinese blue and white ceramics of the 1300s. Vietnamese potters had achieved comparable mastery of underglaze cobalt blue techniques by the mid 1400s. Vietnamese ceramics are also known as Annamese, from 'Annam' the Chinese name for Vietnam. Dishes like this were produced for the export market.
HISTORY
Notes
The early history of this large Annamese dish is unknown. It was purchased for the Museum collection in 1978.
SOURCE
Credit Line
Purchased 1978
Acquisition Date
1 December 1978
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