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Pickle jar
unknown - Enlarge image
Pickle jar
- Place of origin:
Rongchang, China (made)
- Date:
1965 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
unknown (production)
- Materials and Techniques:
Glazed stoneware
- Museum number:
FE.38&A-1989
- Gallery location:
Ceramics Study Galleries, Asia & Europe, room 137, case 15, shelf 3
This pickle jar was made in Rongchang, a city in southwestern China's Sichuan province, in 1965. The body was made of stoneware covered with a coat of ochre slip, cut and incised to form a decoration of floral scrolling and peonies; it was then glazed with the exception of the interior, the lid and the underside of the cover.
The jar shows an important aesthetic orientation in modern Chinese design: the search for an 'authentic' decorative language derived from the folk-life of the 'masses' rather than the tastes of the imperial court or the scholar bureaucrats. This type of Sichuan ceramic ware can be considered one of the most successful attempts to create a traditional style.
