Viewed at RISD Museum (October 3rd, 2015)
The Mughal- Style Bowl from the Chinese Qing Dynasty represents the wealth of the Qianlong period from 1736 to 1795. Made for the emperor, a patron of the arts, the bowl now resizes in the RISD Museum, in the Asian art collection. The object is made completely out of jade, and because it is in a glass case, only part of the outside bowl can be seen.
Where the bowl is located, the two entrances in the long and narrow room are diagonal of each other. The main overhead lights are dimmed, with a long centerpiece in the middle of the room. On the side, in one of the window cases, rests the Mughal-Style Bowl, along with other pieces made of jade and different types of stone. The overhead lights in the case,which…show more content… The one closest to the glass wears a long sleeve robe with a cinched waist, giving her an hourglass figure. The bottom flares out into small curves, giving the illusion of waves. The waves turn into the vines beneath her. While her hair is up in a large bun, her arms are lifted up around head level. Her left hand is holding onto a vine and her right hand is lifting an unidentifiable object that is long and cylindrical. Around her neck appears to be a few vines. The vines appear on her in various ways to create fluidity between her and the frame, giving a further sense of movement and storytelling going around the face of the bowl. Her face is tilted upwards and the direction of her body faces the west, while her face is turned to the east. The next woman to the right of her, two sections over, is a mirror image of the first woman. However, she is holding a different object, which is spherical and has vines coming out of it. In addition, the bodice of her dress is different. The final woman, of equal distance to the other women, is located on the side of the bowl not seen. What is seen is the dark silhouette of body from the inside of the bowl. Curiously enough, she is the most different of the three. Her left arm is pointing down; however, she is still holding on to the vines. Her right hand is holding up what looks like a hoop and it seems as if she is wearing a hat. The three different women give a sense of variety to the story the bowl is trying to