The image above is titled, Alter Bowl with Fish, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA) in New York. The porcelain bowl is an antique from the Ming dynasty, made during the ten-year reign period of Emperor Xuande (1426–35). The location of production of this bowl is Jingdezhen, the porcelain city, so it is categorized as Jingdezhen ware. Its composition is as follows: white “porcelain painted in copper red under transparent glaze.”
The actual photographer of the image above is not specified on the Metropolitan Museum of Art website.
The credit line states, “Rogers Fund, 1919.” Rogers Fund is a foundation that acquires artworks through the large sum of money donated by Jacob S. Rogers when he passed. Therefore, MMA owns the bowl.
The image serves as an example about how collectors dictated the value of ceramics in early China, using the time and place of production.
