mrgelato
Object Lesson: Celadon Pottery
The object that I chose to examine is a beautiful piece of Chinese pottery with green celadon glaze. It is actually a bowl with symmetrical grooves, has a groove on the circumference, and inlaid on the bottom with a lotus design. Judging by the information in the database, this piece of pottery was manufactured in China during the Song dynasty, but was actually unearthed in the Philippines. However, even without looking up the information, I recognize the kind of pottery because I saw the same visiting the museum of anthropology in Shanghai this past summer. I love celadon because of its unique glaze, and if I had to personify it, perhaps it is a little bit like a princess or some kind of royal lady, traveling through the Song dynasty courts while being admired by everyone. At the same time, its beauty is wanted elsewhere, too—obviously this particular object was discovered in the Philippines, thousands of miles away from China, probably carried there by Chinese trading vessels. This raises the question of whether or not the Philippines was interested in exotic goods only as a form of ornamentation, or if the people actually used what they bought. The existence of this piece of celadon pottery also indicates the level of artistry, economic power, and relative life of ease that some people of China and China as a nation had attained during the Song dynasty, as this kind of bowl is a luxury that would be ill-suited to harsh times and rampant civil wars.
The object is classified in the collection a celadon stoneware bowl discovered on the University of Michigan Philippine Expedition in 1922. I think that perhaps some other categories to classify this could include objects that were specifically from China but relocated to the Philippines, and objects that contain the lotus flower design. Thus, some keywords that come to mind in looking at this object are “lotus_design,” “Philippines_made_in_China,” “celadon,” “Song_dynasty_artifact,” and “grooved_pottery.” These keywords are all descriptions of the object such that if someone was looking it up on the internet, they could probably find this particular object relatively easily. However, the object also transcends the physical categorizations of any of these one keywords because it itself is a trope. It represents, as said earlier, the social life of the Song dynasty elite and its mobility indicates its internationalism and ease with which it enters the world market.
Object Lesson: Celadon Pottery
The object that I chose to examine is a beautiful piece of Chinese pottery with green celadon glaze. It is actually a bowl with symmetrical grooves, has a groove on the circumference, and inlaid on the bottom with a lotus design. Judging by the information in the database, this piece of pottery was manufactured in China during the Song dynasty, but was actually unearthed in the Philippines. However, even without looking up the information, I recognize the kind of pottery because I saw the same visiting the museum of anthropology in Shanghai this past summer. I love celadon because of its unique glaze, and if I had to personify it, perhaps it is a little bit like a princess or some kind of royal lady, traveling through the Song dynasty courts while being admired by everyone. At the same time, its beauty is wanted elsewhere, too—obviously this particular object was discovered in the Philippines, thousands of miles away from China, probably carried there by Chinese trading vessels. This raises the question of whether or not the Philippines was interested in exotic goods only as a form of ornamentation, or if the people actually used what they bought. The existence of this piece of celadon pottery also indicates the level of artistry, economic power, and relative life of ease that some people of China and China as a nation had attained during the Song dynasty, as this kind of bowl is a luxury that would be ill-suited to harsh times and rampant civil wars.
The object is classified in the collection a celadon stoneware bowl discovered on the University of Michigan Philippine Expedition in 1922. I think that perhaps some other categories to classify this could include objects that were specifically from China but relocated to the Philippines, and objects that contain the lotus flower design. Thus, some keywords that come to mind in looking at this object are “lotus_design,” “Philippines_made_in_China,” “celadon,” “Song_dynasty_artifact,” and “grooved_pottery.” These keywords are all descriptions of the object such that if someone was looking it up on the internet, they could probably find this particular object relatively easily. However, the object also transcends the physical categorizations of any of these one keywords because it itself is a trope. It represents, as said earlier, the social life of the Song dynasty elite and its mobility indicates its internationalism and ease with which it enters the world market.