Bowl with Peonies

China, YaoZhou kilns
11th Century
Porcelain with Vietnamese gold rim

Celadon wares were highly regarded by the Chinese Imperial court as they resemble the colors of jade, traditionally the most highly valued material in China. An addition of Vietnamese gold rim showed cross-cultural exchange between both countries at that time.
[Linking back to our group gallery guide on colours and culture]

[History]
11th century China was under the Song Dynasty and it was divided into two distinct periods, Northern and Southern.
“Green in the south, white in the North” was a phrase for ceramics in China as Longquan, Zhejiang province (Southern China) were known for their greenwares while Hebei province (Northern China) were known for their whitewares. Celadons are produced by firing a glaze containing a little iron oxide at a high temperature in a reducing kiln.

What is interesting about this artifact that is a YaoZhou ware, a type of celadon porcelain produced in Northern Song dynasty.

[Production]
Although it is studied that 75 percent of pottery kilns built and porcelain produced in 130 provinces during the Song period, YaoZhou wares were only made in modest modest quantities. This could be because pottery in Northern Song were considered a focus of connoisseurship after an early-eleventh century emperor ordered his valued porcelains to have their unglazed rims adorned with gold and silver. Thus making Song porcelains highly prized, just below bronze and jade. Another possible reason could be that at the end of the Northern Song in 1125, the remainder of the Imperial court fled south, hence a lost of technique overtime in YaoZhou wares, and their style adopted and replaced by the Longquan kilns promoted by the court.
[THE YAOZHOU KILNS: A RE-EVALUATION <- Interesting Study on the lost of YaoZhou wares]

Because of the limited quantity of Yaozhou wares produced, they were not exported in great quantities, as only a handful of fragments can be found in indonesia and vietnam.

[Decorations]
Before the Song dynasty, the Tangs decorated their pottery with Buddhist motifs (eg. lotuses, gems, Bodhisattva) as a kind of  ‘fashion statement’ for privileged ranks. However, the Songs reduced the Tangs styles with  motifs of vines and leaves. Tang ceramics focuses more on exotic motifs, vigorous naturalism and painted adornment, while Song porcelains are characterized by reserved decoration, balanced proportions and
monochromatic shades.

Yaozhou ware are most commonly found in the shape of a bowl. Earlier wares were normally left un-decorated until carving was introduced, which introduced the light and dark shades as seen in the chosen artifact.

A possible reason for peonies being decorated on this bowl could be link to the ‘Song dynasty art of flower arranging’. Porcelains display flower types that matches its vessel, exhibiting  flowers that blossoms in the summer and autumn.

[China and Vietnam]
In the early 10th century the Tang dynasty in China collapsed. The Vietnamese seized the initiative and launched a long overdue revolt against Chinese rule in Vietnam, thus forming the Ly dynasty. Annan (Annam, a southern province in China) was spreading the gifts of high civilization, such as trades and pottery making, to the Champa region of central Vietnam. A possible reason how this artifact ended up in Vietnam, also show cross-cultural influence.

I wasn’t able to find any information about Vietnamese pottery involving gold rims. There are two suggestions for the gold rims added onto the porcelains:
1) It can be considered a form of repair, to cover up a possible unglazed rim.
2) Just like the story of the emperor, adding gold rim onto the bowl was a form of decorative purpose.

But we can agree that gold was considered a valuable material and to add gold and celadon ware together made this artifact highly valuable.

Bowl with Peonies

China, YaoZhou kilns
11th Century
Porcelain with Vietnamese gold rim

Celadon originated in China which later spread to other regions in China. Celadon wares were highly regarded by the Chinese imperial court as it is similar to the color of jade. As we can see how highly regarded celadon wares were in China, we can assume that they were considered highly valuable items during trading and only the wealthy might be able to afford it.

Decorations in chinese celadons is limited, normally by shaping the wares body or creating shallow designs (such as the peonies shown on the bowl) on flat surface, allowing the glaze to pool in depressions to give a much deeper colour to accentuate the design. There was rarely any celadon ware which contained a different colour. This is probably because celadon was regarded to be beautiful with the association of jade green. To add colour onto it might remove what celadon is known for: A greenware with a transparent glaze.

A gold rim was added to this celadon bowl in Champa, a culture which flourished in central and southern Vietnam from the 7th to the early 19th century. It shows how cross- cultural exchange was happening way back even in the 11th century. The Vietnamese who owned this porcelain have decided to add their own culture design was onto the bowl, recreating an object that consist of two different cultures. We can see the intricate designs on the gold rim, as if matching the peonies design on the bowl. They might have felt adding additional colours and designs onto the bowl will help beautify it event more, unlike how the chinese felt that celadon wares should be left jade green.

We can infer that the function of the item was to contain maybe soup or water as we know it is a bowl. We can also infer the kind of people who might have used the bowl.  A mixture of gold and celadon suggests someone of somewhat of royalty or higher status could have owned it. It mostly likely wouldn’t be a common household object that can be readily found around Vietnam.