Funerary jar

Object Details

• Description

  Funeral vase: tall, slender, with a long neck and expanding mouth; base recessed.

  Clay: stoneware; hard, gray, heavy-weight, ringing.

  Glaze: lustrous gray-green celadon; brown crackle.

  Decoration: five human figures and dragon in applied relief, under glaze.

• Label

  This long-necked jar bears a relief figure of a dragon. For use in Chinese burial ritual, it would have been paired with a jar of the same shape bearing a tiger figure. Both jars would hold offerings of grain meant to assist the deceased in the afterlife.

• 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. 1467, 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.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  The Peacock Room Comes to America [2022] (September 3, 2022 - ongoing)

  The Peacock Room Comes to America [2017-2019] (October 14, 2017 to January 2, 2019)

  The Peacock Room Comes to America [2011-2016] (April 9, 2011 to January 4, 2016)

  America Meets Asia at the Freer Gallery of Art (May 9, 1993 to June 2, 1998)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Yamanaka and Co. 山中商会 (1917-1965) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Fuzhou city, Jiangxi province, China

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Vessel

• On View

  Freer Gallery 12: The Peacock Room Comes to America

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1200s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Yamanaka and Co.

• Place

  Fuzhou city, China, Jiangxi province

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Green glaze, Stoneware, Chinese Art, Longquan ware, Southern Song dynasty (1127 - 1279), Funerary, Ceramics

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)

• On View

  Yes