Storage jar (lei)

Object Details

• Description

  Gray pottery wine container (lei).

  Vessel formed by coiling-and-throwing process. Elongated cylindrical neck ending in slightly thickened and flattened rim. The shoulder flattened and smoothed. Below the edge of the shoulder, the body swells to its broadest point then tapers sharply to a narrow base approximately the same diameter as the neck. Two broad horizontally pierced lugs placed oppositely just above the jar's widest point, their upper ends overlapping the smooth shoulder band.

  Clay: fine grained unglazed pottery clay, gray on the surface.

  Decoration: Incised around shoulder, a pair of widely spaced horizontal lines filled in with diagonal lines forming a band of triangles. In contrast to the smooth neck and shoulder, the central portion of the body is covered with a stamped grid pattern. Over this textured area is incised an interlocking T-hook pattern, the interior spaces of which are partially smoothed. The lower portion of the jar is plain with numerous closely but irregularly spaced horizontal lines produced by the process of smoothing the surface.

• Provenance

  To 1949

  Helen D. Ling (died 1982), Shanghai, to 1949 [1]

  From 1949 to 1984

  James G. Ling, Potomac, MD, given by Helen D. Ling in 1949 [2]

  From 1984

  Freer Gallery of Art, given by James G. and Ann S. Ling in 1984 [3]

  Notes:

  [1] Helen Dalling Ling was a collector who operated an antiques shop in Shanghai. According to James G. Ling, this object was collected in China during the war (see Curatorial Note 9 in the object record).

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List after 1920 file, Collections Management Office.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Anyang: China's Ancient City of Kings (February 25, 2023 to April 28, 2024)

  Clay and Metal: Ancient Chinese Ceramics and Metal (February 25, 1997 to August 9, 2011)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Helen D. Ling (1901-1982)

  James G. Ling

  Dr. and Mrs. James G. and Ann S. Ling

• Origin

  Anyang, probably Henan province, China

• Credit Line

  Gift of James G. and Ann S. Ling in memory of the collector and connoisseur Helen Dalling Ling

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  BCE 1000s

• Name

  Ling, James G. and Ann S., Ling, Helen D., Ling, James G

• Place

  China, Henan province, Anyang

• Topic

  Wine and wine making, Art, Chinese Art, Anyang period, Late Shang dynasty (ca. 1300 - 1050 BCE), Shang dynasty (ca. 1600 - ca. 1050 BCE), Ceramics

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)