Wine Cup
CultureChinese
DateEastern Han dynasty (25-220 C.E.)
MediumPottery
DimensionsOverall: 2 1/4 × 5 3/8 × 4 5/8 inches (5.72 × 13.65 × 11.75 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust
Object number34-158/1
On View
On viewGallery Location
- 231
Collections
DescriptionOblong bowl with two flanges on the long sides. Serpentine design on side, zig-zag design in relief on edge. Iridescent green glaze.Gallery LabelThis wine cup is a tomb substitute for a real cup made of lacquered wood. Although real lacquer cups were occasionally placed in tombs, the much cheaper lead-glazed earthenware versions were acceptable substitutes.
With Dr. Otto Burchard, Peiping (modern-day Beijing), China, by April 23, 1933-1934 [1];
Purchased from Burchard, through Laurence Sickman, by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1934.
NOTES:
[1] Laurence Sickman, Nelson-Atkins Advisor on Asian Art, first wrote to Langdon Warner about a group of tomb objects, including this piece, on April 23, 1933: “It is what I believe to be a complete set of Han tomb pottery of such high quality and such beauty that it is really quite unbelievable. …there are in all twenty-one pieces all from the same tomb, near Shan Chou, north-west Honan.” Harvard Pusey Library, Langdon Warner Archive, Box 12, Folder 19, copy in Nelson-Atkins curatorial files.
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