Bowl, Ming dynasty, Yongle Period (1403-1424)
Bowl, Ming dynasty, Yongle Period (1403-1424). Porcelain with underglaze blue decoration of bamboo, pine, and plum (Jingdezhen ware), 3 5/16 x 8 11/16 x 8 3/4 inches (8.4 x 22 x 22.2 cm). Purchased with the Henry B. Keep Fund, the Joseph E. Temple Fund, the Bloomfield Moore Fund, the John T. Morris Fund, and with funds contributed by Mrs. Walter H. Annenberg, The Beneficia Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. J. Welles Henderson, Mrs. Howard H. Lewis, Mrs. William F. Machold, Mrs. Donald Petrie, Meyer P. Potamkin, Hugh Scott, and Mrs. William L. Van Alen, 1984; 1984-116-1 © 2017 Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Dubbed the “Three Friends of Winter,” the bamboo, pine, and plum that ornament this bowl remain green and blossom during the winter months. Collectively they symbolize fortitude and resilience in adverse conditions, moral qualities associated with the gentleman scholar. Imperial blue-and-white wares from this early period were decorated with cobalt imported from Persia that produced a deep, inky blue hue. The dark specks are from excess cobalt in the glaze.