Fragment from shoulder of iron-brown-glazed storage jar

Object Details

• Description

  Shape: Irregular fragment from the shoulder of a large storage jar. The shard is approximately 1.6 cm thick throughout. The jar wall was apparently divided into sections by means of raised horizontal ridges.

  Clay: Coarse gray stoneware body with many rust-colored inclusions, some of them quite large. One substantial air pocket is visible. The unglazed portions of the inside of the jar wall oxidized a pinkish beige color where they were exposed to the kiln atmosphere.

  Glaze: Very dark, almost black, unctuous glaze which has adhered well to the stoneware body. Portions of the underglaze incised designs are so thickly glazed as to be indistinct. The glaze did, however, run unevenly. One large area has no glaze adhering to it except for the glaze which has pooled in the incised designs.

  Decoration: Underglaze incised petal lappets above the topmost horizantal raised band point toward the mouth of the jar, while combed scallop designs run below the band. There is a less pronounced horizontal band approximately 4.0 cm below the upper band.

  Marks: "Angkor Thom" is written in pencil on one edge of the shard.

• Marks

  "Angkor Thom" is written in pencil on one edge of the shard.

• Provenance

  To 1957

  John A. Pope (1906-1982), Washington DC, collected between August 1956 and April 1957 in Angkor, Cambodia. [1]

  From 1957

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of John A. Pope, Washington DC [2]

  Notes:

  [1] See Curatorial Remark 2 in the object record. See also “Ceramics in Mainland and Southeast Asia: Collections in the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery”, copy in object file, Collections Management Office.

  [2] See note 1. See also object file, Collections Management Office.

• Collection

  Freer Study Collection

• Previous custodian or owner

  Dr. John Alexander Pope (1906-1982)

• Origin

  Cambodia or Northeast Thailand

• Credit Line

  Gift of John A. Pope

• 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.

  The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1400s, 1000s

• Name

  Pope, John Alexander

• Place

  Thailand

• Topic

  Art, Stoneware, Southeast Asian Art, Ceramics, Angkor period (802 - 1431)

• Culture

  Southeast Asians

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)