Jar

Object Details

• Description

  Jar. Ovoid body broadening toward the high shoulder and tapering toward foot. Flattened base. Short conical neck with everted rim ending in flattened near-vertical edge. Coil seam visible inside neck. Pronounced hortizontal rings on inside wall. Outside wall gently faceted and completely covered (except for neck, which has been smoothed horizontally), including underside of rim and base, with closely spaced parallel grooves produced by texture of wooden paddle used in manufacturing process. Grooves run regularly in diagonal direction from right to left on most of body; around foot grooves are applied irregularly in opposite diagonal and other directions.

  Clay: hard reddish pottery with white inclusions, well fired.

  Glaze: none.

• Label

  After the potter formed this jar from clay coils, he consolidated them by striking a wooden paddle against the wall, supported inside by a wooden anvil. The paddle-and-anvil technique formed a sturdy vessel light in weight for its size. The paddle's carved grooves created the jar's distinctive texture.

• Provenance

  From about 1935-1940

  Private collection, Japan, from about 1935-1940 [1]

  To 1986

  Mrs. Keum Ja Kang, Frankfurt, Germany, purchased from a private collector in Japan [2]

  From 1986

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Mrs. Keum Ja Kang, Frankfurt, on May 12, 1986 [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See Invoice issued by Mrs. Keum Ja Kang to the Freer Gallery of Art on May 12, 1986, copy in object file. In the invoice, Mrs. Keum-Ja Kang indicates that she purchased this jar, along with two other Korean ancient jars, "in Japan from a private collector who claimed the fact that his parents had bought the three Korean pots [F1986.24, F1986.25, and one jar that was not ultimately purchased by the Freer and returned to the vendor] in Japan during the period of 1935-1940." The invoice does not indicate the date of acquisition of the vessel by Mrs. Kang.

  [2] See Invoice cited in note 1.

  [3] See Invoice cited in note 1.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Korean Ceramics (February 4, 1997 to August 7, 2011)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Mrs. Keum-Ja Kang

• Origin

  Korea

• 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

  400s

• Name

  Kang, Keum-Ja

• Place

  Korea

• Topic

  Unglazed, Art, Gimhae ware, Pottery, Korean Art, Ceramics, Three Kingdoms period (57 BCE - 676 CE)

• Culture

  Koreans

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)