Jar

CultureChinese

DateEastern Han dynasty (25-220 C.E.)

MediumEarthenware with green iridescent glaze

DimensionsOverall: 20 1/2 × 13 inches (52.07 × 33.02 cm)

Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust

Object number34-205

On View

On view

Gallery Location

Collections

East Asian Art

Terms

DescriptionLarge bulbous jar with long neck. handles held by animal masks.Gallery Label

Gallery Label

Lead glazes were used because, with the addition of copper oxide, they result in an attractive deep green color. Although we do not know whether the ancient Chinese were aware that lead glazes are poisonous, there is no evidence, that lead-glazed vessels had a practical use outside the tomb. The poor would have used unglazed earthenware, while the rich would have used lacquered wood or bronze vessels.

Provenance

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.

Published References

Mizuno Seiichi ed., Sekai bijutsu zenshū, vol. 13, Daijūsankan chūgoku (2) shin, kan (Tokyo: Kadokawa shoten, 1962): 221, pl. 12 (repro.).

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