Covered jar

Object Details

• 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.

• 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.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Taking Shape: Ceramics in Southeast Asia (April 1, 2007 to December 4, 2011)

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

  A Decade of Discovery: Selected Acquisitions 1970-1980 (November 9, 1979 to May 22, 1980)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Oriental Art, Benjamin J. Stein

• Origin

  Longquan kilns, 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.

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1300s

• Name

  Oriental Art, Benjamin J. Stein

• Place

  Longquan kilns, China, Zhejiang province, Longquan

• Topic

  Art, Green glaze, Stoneware, Chinese Art, Longquan ware, Yuan dynasty (1279 - 1368), Ceramics

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)