Longquan ware funerary jar

Object Details

• Description

  Celadon--Li-shui type. Covered jar with flaring foot ring, two loop handles, flaring mouth and vertical lip.

  Clay: Light gray porcellaneous stoneware, fired reddish brown.

  Glaze: Transparent olive-green with fine crackle.

  Decoration: Incised on body; carved on cover.

• Label

  Graves in Zhejiang Province have yielded tall, long-necked lidded jars like this one buried together with a ewer and a vase bearing multiple false spouts on the shoulder. The three items appear to have constituted a set of burial offerings, and this type of jar most likely contained grain, which perhaps was meant to sustain the deceased for eternity. The incised decor and olive green glaze show the influence of Yaozhou ware.

• Provenance

  From at least 1954 to 1959

  C. T. Loo & Company, New York, from at least December 6, 1954 [1]

  From 1959

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from C. T. Loo & Company on June 11, 1959 [2]

  Notes:

  [1] See John A. Pope's letter to Frank Caro of C. T. Loo & Co., dated December 6, 1954, in which he requests shipment of the jar to the Freer Gallery, copy in object file.

  [2] See C. T. Loo's invoice, issued by Frank Caro, dated June 11, 1959, copy on object file.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Shades of Green and Blue: Chinese Celadon Ceramics (July 15, 1997 to September 7, 2004)

  Chinese Ceramics (April 11, 1978 to September 4, 1980)

• Previous custodian or owner

  C.T. Loo & Company (1914-1948)

• Origin

  Lishui or Longquan, Zhejiang province, China

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Vessel

• 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.

  The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  900s, 1000s

• Name

  C.T. Loo & Company

• Place

  China, Lishui, Zhejiang province, Longquan

• Topic

  Art, Green glaze, Stoneware, Chinese Art, Longquan ware, Ceramics, Northern Song dynasty (960 - 1127)

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)