Cleveland Museum of Art

Bulb Bowl

Date

early 1400s

Medium

porcelaneous stoneware, numbered Jun ware

Culture

China, Henan Province, Yuxian, Juntai, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)

Department

Chinese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Numbered Jun ware is inscribed with a number on its bottom—in this case number "two"—and is thought to have been made initially for the early Ming imperial court. The number indicates size, with "one" being the largest and "ten" being the smallest. Another characteristic is the "earthworm trail" left on the glaze surface, seen on the interior of this bulb bowl, where the opalescent blue glaze has cracked in several places during firing. The rich purplish tone on the exterior is the result of using copper pigment in the glaze.

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