Cleveland Museum of Art

Bowl with Carved Design

Date

1100s–1200s

Medium

Porcelain with pale bluish-white (qingbai) glaze

Culture

South China, Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279)

Department

Chinese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

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 rendering the design more visible. Never intended for imperial use, qingbai ware was among the first mass-produced porcelain types and became a popular export.

The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.