2006.170.206.A-B: Cylindrical tripod vessel (lian) with conical lid
VesselsGallery Text
By the Eastern Han period (when the Han capital was located in present-day Luoyang, Henan province), Chinese potters had discovered the efficacy of using lead-fluxed glazes for their ceramic burial wares. As a fluxing agent, lead oxide lowers the melting point of a glaze, reducing the amount of fuel required for firing. Copper and iron metal oxides were added to the glaze to impart the green and brown colors reminiscent of bronzes with different patinas; they were thus especially useful for glazing ceramic wares that imitated more expensive bronze ritual vessels. The decorative elements on these objects—mystical mountains with swirling clouds, mythical beasts, immortal figures, and bear-form supports—are associated with cosmological realms of immortals and closely replicate the relief ornamentation on sumptuous Han bronzes. Although the tombs of the most wealthy and important Han personages continued to be furnished luxuriously, ceramic reproductions of expensive burial goods and tomb sculptures representing animals, servants, and entertainers became acceptable substitutes for real objects and living creatures.
Identification and Creation
- Object Number
- 2006.170.206.A-B
- Title
- Cylindrical tripod vessel (lian) with conical lid
- Other Titles
- Original Language Title: 東漢 釉陶奩
- Classification
- Vessels
- Work Type
- vessel
- Date
- 25-220 CE
- Places
- Creation Place: East Asia, China
- Period
- Han dynasty, Eastern Han period, 25-220 CE
- Culture
- Chinese
- Persistent Link
- https://hvrd.art/o/186747
Location
- Location
-
Level 1, Room 1600, Early Chinese Art, Arts of Ancient China from the Bronze Age to the Golden Age
View this object's location on our interactive map
Physical Descriptions
- Medium
- Earthenware with brown lead glaze
- Technique
- Lead glaze
- Dimensions
- H. 27.7 x Diam. 21.1 cm (10 7/8 x 8 5/16 in.)
Provenance
- Recorded Ownership History
-
[J. J. Lally & Co., New York, December 1999] sold; to Walter C. Sedgwick Foundation, Woodside, CA (1999-2006), 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 Alpheus Hyatt Purchasing Fund
- Accession Year
- 2006
- Object Number
- 2006.170.206.A-B
- Division
- Asian and Mediterranean Art
- Contact
- am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
- Permissions
-
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Descriptions
- Description
- Cylindrical tripod vessel with legs in the form of crouching bears and conical, mountain-form lid with knob in the form of a seated human figure with head tilted and arm resting on one knee; vessel sides incised with two horizontal lines and embellished with a pair of molded simulated pushou-mask ring-handles, the peaked cover molded with a scene of tigers striding through a dense forest of stylized trees; red earthenware with lead-fluxed, caramel-brown glaze all over the vessel, including the base, the underside of the cover unglazed; with three small rectangular kiln supports on the vessel base.
- Commentary
-
Compare to:
Cylindrical jar of similar form and glaze but without a figural finial in a private collection in Asia. See Aileen Lau, ed., Spirit of Han: Ceramics for the After-Life (Singapore: Southeast Asian Ceramic Society; Sun Tree Publications, 1991), cat. 90, p. 114.
Exhibition History
- 32Q: 1600 Early China II, Harvard Art Museums, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050
Subjects and Contexts
- Sedgwick Collection
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