Jar with four lugs

Historical period(s)
Ming dynasty, 15th-16th century
Medium
Stoneware with iron and rice-straw-ash glazes
Style
Shiwan (Shekwan) ware
Dimensions
H x Diam: 39.5 × 35.2 cm (15 9/16 × 13 7/8 in)
Geography
China, Guangdong province, Foshan, Shiwan (Shekwan) kilns
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1899.47a-f
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Tea-leaf storage jar (chatsubo)

Keywords
China, Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644), Shiwan ware, stoneware, tea
Provenance
Provenance research underway.
Label

An ink inscription in Japanese on the base of this jar gives its purchase price of more than fourteen pounds of silver. Beginning in the ninth century, China sent large numbers of storage jars to destinations along trading routes to Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia, and South Asia. The jars were made at kilns in the coastal provinces of Zhejiang, Fujian, or Guangdong, close to major port cities. Presumably most jars served as containers for commercial goods. Even after the Chinese jars were empty, they were highly valued. The uses to which they were put depended on the culture that received them. This jar reached Japan, where Chinese jars stored tea leaves used in the Japanese tea ceremony, chanoyu.

Published References
  • Japanese Visual Culture: Performance, Media and Text. Japan. .
  • Title unknown. no. 34, 2013. .
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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