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Chinese, China

Punch Bowl with Cantonese Hongs, 1785-1800

Now On View

Description

Maker

  • Unknown

Culture

Chinese

Title

Punch Bowl with Cantonese Hongs

Year

1785-1800

Medium

Porcelain with enamel

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • porcelain,
  • enamel

Place

China

Type

  • Ceramics

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Hope Brown Russell

Object Number

09.343

Projects & Publications

Publications

Teaching Notes/ Imagining the Americas

Read Online

Global Trade & Visual Arts in Federal New England

Selected Works

A Handbook of the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Making It In America

October 11, 2013 - February 9, 2014

Elizabeth A. Williams, Curator of Decorative Arts and Design: This bowl is both a physical product and pictorial documentation of 18th-century global commerce. It depicts the Canton waterfront, where an American flag flies high among those of European countries including England, France, and Holland, heralding the United States’ successful international trade with China beginning in 1784. A series of buildings known as hongs encircles the bowl’s exterior. Operated by Western nations, hongs served as storehouses for the China trade, a lucrative venture that brought tea, silks, porcelain, lacquerware, and other luxury articles to Western shores.

Deborah Diemente, potter and RISD Museum Head Registrar: An individual studio potter today has little in common with the artisans who produced this bowl. Can it speak to us now? Look closely at the intricate decoration on the exterior. Note not only the number of enamels used, each representing years of experimentation, but also the many techniques of application and depth of color. Some lines flow like watercolor while others are sharp as a knife’s edge. Dozens of specialists, each executing one part of the process, labored on this bowl. Each had a particular expertise and yet the collaboration achieved a resonant harmony that could only come from a shared commitment to perfection. Such a virtuoso display of technique is an inspiration. It reminds me of the day my Japanese teacher turned sharply to a student who had complimented his talent for brushwork decoration, saying, “No, no, it is technique, not talent. You must practice, practice, practice!”

Chinese Export Silver

March 8 - April 21, 1985

Designed For Another Age

March 20 - May 4, 1980

Exploring America

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Punch Bowl with Cantonese Hongs with the accession number of 09.343. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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