The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of October 7, 2026

A smooth, blue-white porcelain bowl flares into an inverted cone from a small circular base. The translucent glaze creates a subtle sheen, revealing a scrolling design carved into the interior. On the exterior, small indentations and variations in glaze thickness appear across the cool light-blue surface. The wide rim catches the light, casting faint shadows across the bowl's sloped sides and accentuating its clean, minimal form.

Bowl with Carved Design

1100s–1200s

South China, Southern Song dynasty

(1127–1279)
Porcelain with pale bluish-white (qingbai) glaze
Overall: 6.5 x 17.2 cm (2 9/16 x 6 3/4 in.)
Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift 2020.182
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

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

Description

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.
  • ?–2010
    (K.Y. Fine Art, Hong Kong, sold to Mr. and Mrs. Joseph P. Keithley)
    2010–2020
    Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley, Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2020–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Vainker, S. J. Chinese Pottery and Porcelain. London: British Museum, 2005.
    Von Spee, Clarissa. "Chinese Ceramics and Works on Paper." In The Keithley Collection at the Cleveland Museum of Art, edited by Heather Lemonedes Brown, 194–229. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2022. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 210–211; Mentioned: pp. 259–261
  • Impressionism to Modernism: The Keithley Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 11, 2022-January 8, 2023).
  • {{cite web|title=Bowl with Carved Design|url=false|author=|year=1100s–1200s|access-date=07 October 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2020.182