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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2006.170.255
Title
Tiger-shaped chamber pot (huzi)
Other Titles
Original Language Title: 北齊至隋 黄釉虎子
Classification
Vessels
Work Type
vessel
Date
6th – early 7th century
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Northern Qi (550-577) to Sui (581-618) dynasty
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/182526

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Stoneware with lead fluxed glaze
Technique
Lead glaze
Dimensions
H. 26.4 x W. 13 x L. 30 cm (10 3/8 x 5 1/8 x 11 13/16 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
[The Chinese Porcelain Company, New York, April 2000] sold; to Walter C. Sedgwick Foundation, Woodside, CA (2000-2006), partial gift; to Harvard University Art Museums, 2006.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Partial gift of the Walter C. Sedgwick Foundation and partial purchase through the Ernest B. and Helen Pratt Dane Fund for Asian Art
Accession Year
2006
Object Number
2006.170.255
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Descriptions

Description
Handled chamber pot in the form of an open-mouthed, crouched feline, with cylindrical opening at the mouth, arched handle attached from the top of the animal’s head to its rump, and molded decoration on the body modeled after Sassanian metalwork, including five-point palmettes and beading; buff earthenware with pale yellowish-green lead-fluxed glaze over molded and carved decoration; base unglazed. Place of manufacture uncertain, probably northern China. One of a set of four burial vessels (2006.170.255-258).
Commentary
Compare to:
(1) Bronze animal-shaped chamber pot of related form excavated in 1968 from the Northern Qi (550-577) tomb of Cui Ang (dated to 566) in Pingshan, Hebei province. See Wenwu [Cultural Relics] 11 (1973): 29, fig. 2.
(2) Celadon ewer of different form but with similar molded decoration excavated from the Northern Qi tomb of Lou Rui (dated to 570) in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, now in the Shanxi Museum. See Zhongguo chutu ciqi quanji [Complete Collection of Chinese Ceramics Unearthed in China], vol. 5: Shanxi (Beijing: Kexue chubanshe, 2008), no. 16.

Publication History

  • The Chinese Porcelain Company: A Dealer's Record, 1985-2000, auct. cat., The Chinese Porcelain Company (New York, 2000), p. 59

Exhibition History

Subjects and Contexts

  • Sedgwick Collection

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Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu