Object Details
Description
Pillow in the form of a tortoise, head turned upward, the feet shown in paddling motion. The carapace hexagonal plates are modelled, the divisions incised. The shell is surmounted by a narrow concave head-rest with lobed ends and a small hole in the center, on a base decorated with a carved scroll. This element, the head, tail, and legs were separately applied. The skin folds below the carapace are modelled. A hole was made in the unglazed flat base near the tail end. A brown iron oxide wash covers the base, the "chocolate base" common on Vietnamese ceramics. There is a repaired break at one end of the head-rest, which is seen on the underside.
Clay: dense, light gray stoneware.
Glaze: clear, bubbled, slightly crackled over white slip and iron painting. Some glaze separation, particularly on areas where appendages and superstructure were attached. No glaze on top of head-rest. A line of paint on a strip of slip shows indistinctly around its edge. Small glaze chip on edge of head-rest. Some glaze worn off on claws of three of the feet.
Decoration: paired iron-oxide brush strokes on each plate of carapace and other iron brown underglaze details, e.g., wrinkles on the animal's neck.
With wooden stand.
Label
A tortoise raises its head and paddles its feet as it supports the headrest of a pillow. This form might represent the mythical golden turtle Kim Quy, a supernatural creature believed to protect the Vietnamese people. The white glaze, nearly opaque because of underfiring, conceals details painted in iron pigment.
Pillow forms are rare in Vietnamese ceramics. This pillow was recovered in 1943 from the ruins of an ancient Buddhist monastery along the banks of the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok, Thailand.
Provenance
1943
Excavated in Bangkok in 1943 [1]
To 1985
Dean Frasché, Greenwich, CT, to 1985 [2]
From 1985
Freer Gallery of Art, given by Dean Frasché in 1985
Notes:
[1] The object was found during the removal of the ruins of an ancient Buddhist wat on the eastern bank of the Chao Phraya River, some 700 meters south of the present Oriental Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand (see Curatorial Note 1, J.H. Knapp, 1986, in object record).
According to the donor (his information having come from the Thai-Chinese gentleman from whom he acquired the piece), the abandoned wat where the object was found was demolished and the site excavated in the process of building an unloading dock; the name of the wat was not recorded (see Curatorial Note 2, L.A. Cort, 1986, in object record).
[2] See note 1.
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Exhibition History
Vietnam's Ceramics: Depth and Diversity (July 11, 2015 - July 10, 2016)
Vietnamese Ceramics from the Red River Delta (July 10, 2005 to November 15, 2009)
Previous custodian or owner
Dean F. Frasche (1906-1994)
Credit Line
Gift of Dean Frasché
Date
late 14th-15th century
Period
Tran or Later Le dynasty
Accession Number
F1985.37a-b
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Type
Furniture and Furnishing
Medium
Stoneware with iron pigment under translucent (underfired) glaze, iron pigment on base
Dimensions
H x W x D: 9.8 x 12.1 x 16.7 cm (3 7/8 x 4 3/4 x 6 9/16 in)
Origin
Red River Delta kilns, Hai Duong province, Vietnam
Related Online Resources
Ceramics in Mainland Southeast Asia
Google Arts & Culture
NMAA Southeast Asia
See more items in
National Museum of Asian Art
Data Source
National Museum of Asian Art
Topic
ceramic
tortoise
Vietnam
Tran dynasty (1225 - 1400)
Later Le dynasty (1428 - 1527)
stoneware
Southeast Asian Art
Link to Original Record
Record ID
fsg_F1985.37a-b