Funerary jar (hunping)
late 3rd century
Description
Broad-shouldered jar supporting a multi-tiered, tiled-roof architectural complex surrounded by birds, monkeys, dragons, and numerous male figures engaged in various activities; the sides of the jar further embellished with molded appliques of kneeling male figures bearing a staff; light gray stoneware with olive-green celadon glaze over molded and applique decoration; flat, circular base unglazed. From the Yue kilns in the Shaoxing area, northeastern Zhejiang province. Hunping, or “urns of the soul,” were fashioned to house the spirit of individuals and placed in tombs. Such vessels were produced for a relatively short period, from the third to fourth century, in the lower Yangzi River region.
Dimensions
H. 49 x Diam. 28 cm (19 5/16 x 11 in.)
Provenance
[Kaikodo, New York, September 1998] sold; to Walter C. Sedgwick Foundation, Woodside, CA (1998-2006), partial gift; to Harvard University Art Museums, 2006.
Related Artworks
View MoreJizhou ware: light gray stoneware with tortoiseshell glaze on the exterior, and with papercut decoration reserved in dark brown glaze against a variegated buff ground on the interior. From the Jizhou kilns near Yonghe, Ji'an, Jiangxi province.
12th-13th centuryChineseMetal
Pre-ColumbianEarthenware
5th-3rd millennium BCEChineseProbably Korean Kaya-type ware, possibly Japanese Sue ware: gray stoneware with openwork decoration and with splashes of natural ash glaze
6th centuryKoreanCeladon ware: light gray stoneware over carved and incised decoration
6th centuryChineseNumbered Jun ware: light gray stoneware with variegated blue glaze; with Chinese numeral 10 (shi) inscribed on base before firing
15th centuryChineseTerracotta
2nd-3rd century CERomanSilver
17th centuryBritishHard-paste porcelain with monochrome enamel decoration
18th centuryGermanLight gray stoneware with blackened surfaces, the decoration polished into the matte surface before firing
5th-3rd century BCEChinese