Bowl

12th century

Although these celadon bowls seem quite plain at first glance, both contain very delicate, hand-drawn decorations that were lightly incised into the clay before glazing. One bowl’s interior has a flower floating on barely visible ripples of water, while the other’s interior shows long-tailed birds flying. In both bases, the decorators appear to have used comblike instruments to create parallel, but gestural, lines in the clay.