Funerary Jar
206 BC - 220 AD (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This earthenware jar was made and used during the Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) as a funerary object. The surface is decorated with a frieze depicting animals and archers; the lid is in the shape of a mountain emerging from the waves and probably referring to the mythical Penglai, or Island of Immortals, a place that the deceased were supposed to reach after death.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
|
| Materials and techniques | Earthenware, with lead glaze |
| Brief description | Funerary jar, earthenware with lead glaze, China, Han dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) |
| Physical description | Cylindrical earthenware jar with three legs in the form of bears and lid in the shape of a mountain, decorated with a yellowish brown lead glaze. The surface of the jar has a frieze depicting tigers, monkeys, deers, birds and archers on horses; round the lid is a wave pattern rising in four points. |
| Style | |
| Gallery label | Lidded jar
Eastern Han dynasty
AD 25-220
This lidded jar is shaped like the Bo Mountain, a paradise inhabited by immortals and mythical animals.
Earthenware with yellow lead glaze
Museum no. C.819-1936(2007) |
| Credit line | Purchased with Art Fund support, the Vallentin Bequest, Sir Percival David and the Universities China Committee |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | This earthenware jar was made and used during the Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) as a funerary object. The surface is decorated with a frieze depicting animals and archers; the lid is in the shape of a mountain emerging from the waves and probably referring to the mythical Penglai, or Island of Immortals, a place that the deceased were supposed to reach after death. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | C.819&A-1936 |
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| Record created | February 2, 2004 |
| Record URL |
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