- Provenance
- Provenance research underway.
- Label
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A tower of two stories, each protected by its own roof, stands in a bowl-shaped moat containing small models of swans, frogs, turtles, and fish. Perching birds and human sentries are located at the four corners of each level. Earthenware towers, such as the one seen here, are sometimes found among the grave goods in tombs from the Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 C.E.), and are often covered in a green glaze that has developed a slight iridescence from prolonged burial. The Eastern Han was an unsettled period and these structures may represent the kind of fortified towers in which landowners and their families sought refuge during times of warfare and social turmoil. The balustrades and bracketing system of the roofs illustrate some basic elements of the Chinese architectural tradition during the first centuries of the common era.
- Published References
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- Dr. Berthold Laufer. Chinese Clay Figures. Field Museum of Natural History Anthropological Series, vol. 8 Chicago. pl. 19.
- Oriental Ceramics: The World's Great Collections. 12 vols., Tokyo. vol. 10, pl. 7.
- Robert L. Hobson. Chinese Pottery and Porcelain: An Account of the Potter's Art in China from Primitive Times to the Present Day. 2 vols., New York and London. vol. 1: pl. 4.
- Thomas Dexel. Les Terres Cuites Chinoises. Paris. p. 15.
- Masterpieces of Chinese and Japanese Art: Freer Gallery of Art handbook. Washington, 1976. p. 62.
- Thomas Lawton, Linda Merrill. Freer: a legacy of art. Washington and New York, 1993. p. 71, fig. 47.
- Thomas Lawton. China's Artistic Legacy. vol. 118, no. 258 London, August 1983. p. 134.
- Dr. Berthold Laufer. Religious and Artistic Thought in Ancient China. vol. 6, no. 6, December 1917. p. 301.
- Henri Maspero. Etudes d'Orientalisme. vol. 2, Paris. pp.403-418.
- Collection Area(s)
- Chinese Art
- Web Resources
- Google Cultural Institute
- CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)
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This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.
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CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)
This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.
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