Covered jar

Covered Jar, of kuan shape, moulded in two sections. Edge of cover projects in waved contour. Chips on underside of cover, and a few very small chips in foot-rim.
Clay: porcelain, off-white, browned slightly from oxidation where exposed.
Glaze: olive-green celadon covers outside of jar and lid except for edge of mouth and foot-rim; also covers inside of jar, base, inside of lid except for projection.
Decoration: vertical ribbing with top of ridges appearing light due to glaze being thinner than in the channels. Center of cover has moulded, raised eleven-petalled floral medallion. Edge of cover has been lifted in five places to produce a leaf-like waving contour.

Historical period(s)
Yuan dynasty, 14th century
Medium
Stoneware with celadon glaze
Style
Longquan ware
Dimensions
H x Diam (assembled): 8 × 8.8 cm (3 1/8 × 3 7/16 in)
Geography
China, Zhejiang province, Longquan, Longquan kilns
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1977.11a-b
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Jar

Keywords
China, green glaze, Longquan ware, stoneware, Yuan dynasty (1279 - 1368)
Provenance

To 1976
Oriental Art, Benjamin J. Stein, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. [1]

From 1976
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Oriental Art, Benjamin J. Stein, Amsterdam, The Netherlands [2]

Notes:

[1] See invoice, copy in object file, Collections Management Office.

[2] See note 1.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Oriental Art, Benjamin J. Stein

Description

Covered Jar, of kuan shape, moulded in two sections. Edge of cover projects in waved contour. Chips on underside of cover, and a few very small chips in foot-rim.
Clay: porcelain, off-white, browned slightly from oxidation where exposed.
Glaze: olive-green celadon covers outside of jar and lid except for edge of mouth and foot-rim; also covers inside of jar, base, inside of lid except for projection.
Decoration: vertical ribbing with top of ridges appearing light due to glaze being thinner than in the channels. Center of cover has moulded, raised eleven-petalled floral medallion. Edge of cover has been lifted in five places to produce a leaf-like waving contour.

Label

This jar finds a distant prototype in metal wares that were made with lids shaped like full-grown lotus leaves. By the fourteenth century, the shape was standard for various sizes of storage jars made for domestic use and export. The olive green color is typical of many Longquan ceramics produced in the Yuan dynasty (1279–1368), indicating a change since the zenith of the Longquan kilns in the Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279). Many similar jars have been found in the Philippines, and some were recovered from a Chinese shipwreck off Sinan, Korea. The ship set sail circa 1323 headed for Japan.

Published References
  • Louise Allison Cort, George Williams, David P. Rehfuss. Ceramics in Mainland Southeast Asia. Washington. .
  • National Museum of Korea. Sinan haejo munhwajae torok [Special Exhibition of Cultural Relics Found off Sinan Coast]. Exh. cat. Seoul. .
  • Leandro Locsin, Cecelia Locsin. Oriental Ceramics Discovered in the Philippines. Rutland, Vermont. .
  • Julia Murray. A Decade of Discovery: Selected Acquisitions 1970-1980. Exh. cat. Washington, 1979. cat. 22, p. 32.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Ceramics in Mainland Southeast Asia
Google Cultural Institute
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