Minneapolis Institute of Art

Tea Bowl

Date

12th-13th century

Medium

Jizhou ware Buff colored stoneware with brown glaze on the exterior and papercut decoration reserved in dark brown glaze against a variegated buff ground on the inside

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

The decorative scheme seen on this bowl is called feng mei wen (phoenix-and-plum design). The design elements were created with papercut stencils at the Qizhou kilns in Jiangxi province, which were apparently the only kilns in traditional China that used cut-paper stencils to impart resist designs. Once the bowl had dried, it was immersed in the dark-brown glaze. When the glaze had stabilized, the phoenix and plum branch papercuts were affixed to the interior walls and a mixture of wood or bamboo ash mixed with slip was sprinkled over the whole interior. After the drying, the papercuts were removed and the vessel was fired right side up. Asia

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