Tomb jar

Object Details

• Description

  Clay: reddish buff with sand tempering, fired medium hard.

  Glaze: Lead silicate, green with pale iridescence and fine crackle; all over.

  Decoration: horizontal lines in relief and intaglio, three triangular spurs on flat base.

• Provenance

  1948

  Reportedly excavated at Ning-Pao in Shensi Province [Ningbao, Shaanxi Province] [1]

  By 1951-1952

  Mathias Komor, New York, acquired from unidentified dealer in Hong Kong [2]

  From 1952

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Mathias Komor, New York [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See object file for letter from Mathias Komor to J. A. Pope, dated May 28, 1951, with accompanying memorandum describing two vases [Komor nos. RT.92 and RT.93] Komor was about to send to the Freer Gallery of Art for examination. In the letter, Komor writes, “As stated on my memorandum they were found together with the other pieces you saw here in Shensi at the beginning of 1948; they were afterwards taken via Canton to Hong Kong and kept there in storage for about 3 years, until I bought the entire lot.” The accompanying memorandum describes the provenance of the object as a “Excavated in the early part of 1948 at Ning-Pao in Shensi Province.”

  [2] See notes 1 and 2. Additionally, see the object file for a letter from Mathias Komor to J. E. Lodge, dated May 28, 1951, which accompanied Komor’s shipment statement for objects RT92 and RT93. Komor wrote, “As stated on my memorandum they were found together with the other pieces you saw here in Shensi at the beginning of 1948; they were afterwards taken via Canton to Hong Kong and kept there in storage for about 3 years, until I bought the entire lot.” Mathias Komor was a Hungarian American dealer of Asian art and antiquities. He was a founding member of the Asia Society and a leading authority on Chinese antiquities, and he served as a consultant to several U. S. museums. Komor had a gallery on Madison Avenue in New York from 1941 until his retirement in 1983.

  [3] See object file for copy of Mathias Komor invoice to the Freer Gallery of Art, dated July 18, 1952, and approved by Acting Secretary J. E. Graf on February 14, 1952. The object is the first of two [RT92], described as “RT 92 and 93 Two small pottery vases, in the shape of a Hu; silver iridescent green glaze; both in perfect condition.”

  Research updated September 14, 2023

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Centennial Exhibition, Gallery 13 (November 10, 1955 to March 1, 1957)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Mathias Komor (1909-1984)

• Origin

  China

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  200s

• Name

  Komor, Mathias

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Art, Han dynasty, 202 B.C.-220 A.D., Chinese Art, Pottery, Iridescence, Ceramics

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)