Miniature jarlet

Object Details

• Provenance

  At least 1935-1991

  John Hadley Cox (1913-2005), method of acquisition unknown [1]

  From 1991

  National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, gift of John Hadley Cox [2]

  Notes:

  [1] See offer letter from John Hadley Cox to Milo Beach, dated September 17, 1991, copy in object file.

  John Hadley Cox (1913-2005) was an educator and a collector of Chinese archaeological ceramic, pottery, and bronze vessels, predominantly from the Changsha region of Hunan Province in South Central China. Upon graduating from Yale University in 1935 (B.A.), he spent two years teaching at Yale University's Yale-in-China program in Changsha. Whilst in China, he amassed his collection of ceramics and other materials from active archaeological sites in the region. During World War II, Cox served as an officer in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) (now the CIA), and he was sent to Shanghai in 1945 to collect counterintelligence. Cox was also a fellow of the Harvard-Yenching Institute of Far Eastern Studies, an Assistant Professor of Fine Arts at the University of Michigan, and a linguistics professor at Georgetown University. In 1991, Cox donated 106 potsherds of Thai, Cambodian, Vietnamese, and Chinese origin to the Freer Gallery Study Collection. Cox also left numerous items of his collection to the art gallery of his alma mater.

  [2] See Deed of Gift, copy in object file. The Deed of gift was signed by the donor on December 19, 1991, and was signed by the museum’s director on December 28, 1991.

  The object is part of the museum’s Freer Study Collection.

  Research updated November 4, 2024

• Collection

  Freer Study Collection

• Previous custodian or owner

  John Hadley Cox (1913-2005)

• Origin

  Si Satchanalai, Sukhothai province, Thailand

• Credit Line

  Gift of the John Hadley Cox Archaeological Study Collection

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1400s, 1200s

• Name

  Cox, John Hadley

• Place

  Sukhothai province, Si Satchanalai, Thailand

• Topic

  Art, Ayutthaya period (1351 - 1767), Stoneware, Southeast Asian Art, Ceramics, Sawankhalok ware

• Culture

  Southeast Asians

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)