Tomb vessel with lid (“hill jar”)

” Hill-jar”: cylindrical, tripod. Spur on base. Cover. Glazed pottery.
Clay: soft, fine, red.
Glaze: gvreen, with silver iridescence; largely disintegrated; crackled with age.
Decoration: a band of animals and mounted hunters; two rudimentary head a nd ring handles, molded in relief. Seated bear feet. Cover molded in rounded mountain forms; animals in relief.

Historical period(s)
Eastern Han dynasty, early 1st-early 3rd century
Medium
Earthenware with copper-green lead-silicate glaze
Dimensions
H x Diam: 26.7 × 23.4 cm (10 1/2 × 9 3/16 in)
Geography
China
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1906.242a-b
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Tomb vessel

Keywords
bear, China, earthenware, Eastern Han dynasty (25 - 220), Han dynasty (206 BCE - 220 CE), hunting, mountain
Provenance

To 1906
Yamanaka & Company, to 1906 [1]

From 1906 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company in 1906 [2]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

Notes:

[1] See Original Pottery List, L. 1469, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. The majority of Charles Lang Freer’s purchases from Yamanaka & Company were made at its New York branch. Yamanaka & Company maintained branch offices, at various times, in Boston, Chicago, London, Peking, Shanghai, Osaka, Nara, and Kyoto. During the summer, the company also maintained seasonal locations in Newport, Bar Harbor, and Atlantic City.

[2] See note 1.

[3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919
Yamanaka and Co. (C.L. Freer source) 1917-1965

Description

" Hill-jar": cylindrical, tripod. Spur on base. Cover. Glazed pottery.
Clay: soft, fine, red.
Glaze: gvreen, with silver iridescence; largely disintegrated; crackled with age.
Decoration: a band of animals and mounted hunters; two rudimentary head a nd ring handles, molded in relief. Seated bear feet. Cover molded in rounded mountain forms; animals in relief.

Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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