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Description

Round, foliated bowl with raised, flared foot ring. Decoration is in blue on grey ground. Interior has decoration on lines around the rim; exterior has band of downward pointing triangles at rim, decorations in two areas of curved cursory lines and dots.

Narrative

This bowl, and many other objects in this collection, was collected from the abandoned agricultural village of Tsing Fai Tong, in Tsuen Wan District. The village, like many others in remote and mountainous areas of Hong Kong, had been abandoned because life there was not economically viable in contemporary Hong Kong. Its former inhabitants, members of the Fu lineage, had moved down to the coastal area of Sham Tseng. Elizabeth Johnson collected the objects from the ruined houses with the permission of the Fu lineage, obtained through the intercession of the District Officer, James Hayes. As Hong Kong’s New Territories modernized it was common for people to discard objects that were no longer useful. This bowl was found in a basket containing many other such bowls as well as chopsticks, suggesting that they probably were lineage property.

History Of Use

Wealthier families owned dishes of this type, perhaps a group of 25, to have on hand for banquets held on festive occasions such as the marriage of a son. They were used for the serving of special festival foods such as stewed pork and stewed mushrooms. Few families were able to own a set of this size, but they would loan them to others and replace them if they were broken. The name of this type of bowl in Cantonese means “eight-sided bowl”. This dish likely was made in the well-known kilns at Wun Yiu, Tai Po. After the mid-twentieth century the New Territories of Hong Kong began to undergo fundamental changes. The people who had been settled there before 1898, when the British colonizers claimed the area, began to give up rice agriculture and coastal fishing, turning instead to wage labour and increased employment overseas. By the end of the century, educational opportunities leading to the possibility of white-collar work also increased, together with western influences. These changes meant that objects and clothing once useful and appropriate were no longer needed and generally were discarded. Some were saved by their owners, who sometimes were willing to donate them to museums, sharing, also, their knowledge of how they were made and used. As people became wealthier and as many moved from village housing, most banquets have come to be held in restaurants.