THE COLLECTIONS OF THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE The systematic catalogue will include approximately thirty volumes on the paintings, sculpture, and decorative arts in the collection of the National Gallery of Art. Published to date are: Early Netherlandish Painting John Oliver Hand and Martha Wolff, 1986 Spanish Paintings of the Fifteenth through Nineteenth Centuries Jonathan Brown and Richard G. Mann, 1990 British Paintings of the Sixteenth through Nineteenth Centuries John Hayes, 1992 American Naive Paintings Deborah Chotner, with contributions by Julie Aronson, Sarah D. Cash, and Laurie Weitzenkorn, 1992 German Paintings of the Fifteenth through Seventeenth Centuries John Oliver Hand, with the assistance of Sally E. Mansfield, 1993 Western Decorative Arts PART i: Medieval, Renaissance, and Historicizing Styles including Metalwork, Enamels, and Ceramics Rudolf Distelberger, Alison Luchs, Philippe Verdier, and Timothy H. Wilson, 1993 American Paintings of the Eighteenth Century Ellen G. Miles, with contributions by Patricia Burda, Cynthia J. Mills, and Leslie Kaye Reinhardt, 1995 Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr., 1995 Italian Paintings of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries Diane De Grazia and Eric Garberson, with contributions by Edgar Peters Bowron, Peter M. Lukehart, and Mitchell Merling, 1996 American Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, Part I Franklin Kelly, with Nicolai Cikovsky, Jr., Deborah Chotner, and John Davis, 1996 DECORATIVE ARTS, PART II: Far Eastern Ceramics and Paintings; Persian and Indian Rugs and Carpets The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue Decorative Arts, Part II Far Eastern Ceramics and Paintings; Persian and Indian Rugs and Carpets Virginia Bower Josephine Hadley Knapp Stephen Little Robert Wilson Torchia with contributions by Judy Ozone William Sargent National Gallery of Art, Washington Oxford University Press This publication is made possible by a grant from THE STARR FOUNDATION This publication was produced by the Editors Office, National Gallery of Art, Washington Editor-in-Chief, Frances P. Smyth Production Manager, Chris Vogel Senior Editor and Manager, Systematic Catalogue, Mary Yakush Editor, Systematic Catalogue, Katherine M. Whann Editor, Lys Ann Shore Photography by Philip A. Charles, Jr. Designer, Dana Levy, Perpetua Press, Los Angeles Typeset in Minion by Perpetua Press Printed in Hong Kong by South China Printing Co. JACKET: detail, Vase, Meiping Shape, 1942.9.610 FRONTISPIECE: detail,Vase, called "TheFlame" 1942.9.528 p. viii: detail, Rouleau Vase, 1942.9.623 p. x: detail, Tall Vase, 1942.9.607 Copyright © 1998 Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington. All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form (except in reviews for the public press and other copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law), without written permission of the National Gallery of Art. Distributed by Oxford University Press, 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 Oxford University Press: Oxford, New York, Toronto, Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Karachi, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Cape Town, Melbourne, Auckland; and associated companies in Berlin and Ibadan. Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGUING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA National Gallery of Art (U.S.) Decorative arts/Stephen Little... [et al.] p. cm. —(The Collections of the National Gallery of Art: systematic catalogue). Contents: pt. n. Far Eastern ceramics and paintings; Persian and Indian rugs and carpets. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-89468-162-!. -ISBN 0-52147-068-4 (pt.l)-ISBN 0-89468-252-0 (pt. Il) i. Art, Far Eastern-Catalogs. 2. Art, Persian and Indian-Catalogs. 3. Art-Washington (D.C.)-Catalogs, i. Bower, Virginia n. Title, in. Series: National Gallery of Art (U.S.) Collections of the National Gallery of Art. N5963.W18N382 1998 7o8.i53-dc20 91-15/25 CIP Contents ix Foreword x Acknowledgments xi Introduction and Notes to the Reader i THE WIDENER PORCELAINS Josephine Hadley Knapp 5 THE STEELE PORCELAINS Stephen Little 7 CHINESE CERAMIC TECHNIQUES Stephen Little, Josephine Hadley Knapp, and Judy Ozone 24 THE WIDENER RUGS AND CARPETS Robert Wilson Torchia CATALOGUE 28 Chinese Ceramics, pre-Qing Dynasty 45 Chinese Porcelains, Qing Dynasty Monochrome Polychrome 255 Porcelains from the Chinese Republic 258 Porcelains in European Mounts, with introduction 268 Japanese Ceramics 271 Modern Ceramics in Chinese Styles 273 Glossary of Porcelain Terms 277 Other Chinese Works 289 Rugs and Carpets 319 Glossary of Rug and Carpet Terms 321 Chronological Table of Chinese Dynasties 323 Bibliography 333 Index >Jl ; FOREWORD J OSEPH E. WIDENER OCCASIONALLY ENTERTAINED Andrew W. Mellon, the founder of the National Gallery of Art, at Widener's home outside Philadelphia, Lynnewood Hall. On these visits, surrounded by the Widener family's superb assemblage of paintings, sculpture, and decorative arts, the two philanthropists discussed their respec- tive ideas about a future museum in the nation's capital. At the National Gallery's dedication on 17 March 1941, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt thanked, by name, the Wideners as among "those other collectors of paint- ings and sculpture who have already joined, or who propose to join" Mellon in establishing this institution for "the freedom of the human spirit." In the autumn of 1942, a year-and-a-half after the Gallery opened, the Widener works of art went on view. Installed in a "museum within a museum" created expressly for their display were 176 Chinese porcelains and six large carpets and small rugs. The porcelains, almost exclusively from the Qing dynasty, form a study collection of late seventeenth- to early nineteenth-century shapes and glazes. In 1972, the Widener decorative arts were complemented by an additional gift of sixty-three ceramics from the family of the late Harry Garfield Steele, much of it comprising eighteenth-century Chinese porcelains. While being studied for this volume of the Gallery's systematic catalogue, the Steele ceramics remained off view, but they were integrated with the Widener porcelains in 1996. The National Gallery wishes to acknowledge the scholars whose expertise have made this publication possible. Josephine Hadley Knapp and Virginia Bower dealt principally with the monochrome porcelains. Stephen Little wrote mainly on the polychrome porcelains and other ceramics. Robert Torchia was responsible for updating and expanding the rug and carpet entries, originally drafted by the late Charles Grant Ellis. In their acknowledgments, these authorities give credit to their fellow scholars who assisted them in research and con- noisseurship. Although virtually every department of the Gallery has contributed to the realization of this sys- tematic catalogue, particular thanks must go to Judy Ozone in the conservation laboratory. For the thorough and conscientious work of numerous individuals, both outside and within the Gallery, we are most grateful. Generous support for this volume was provided by The Starr Foundation, whose grant enabled the Gallery to photograph in color each work included in the catalogue. As the result, this relatively little-known part of the Gallery's collection is reproduced in color for the first time. Over the many years it has taken to achieve this publication, the Foundation has been unwavering in its commitment, and we are truly grateful. Earl A. Powell III Director FOREWORD IX