On view
Asian Art
Huo Pavilion
Huo Pavilion
Hu 壺 (storage jar),
1st century BCE
Chinese
Western Han dynasty, 206 BCE–9 CE
y1986-111 a-b
This lidded earthenware storage container imitates a vessel type that originated in bronze. In Western Han tombs, similar earthenware jars have been found filled with cereal grains for the afterlife. The designs covering the surface of this vessel were added after firing. They include bands of cloud scrolls that wrap continuously around the vessel’s circumference. These patterns, which exhibit a lively brushwork, borrow their forms from the bodies of interlaced dragons in earlier Eastern Zhou ornament. A pair of stamped-clay animal faces placed on opposite sides of the object have small openings that on a bronze version of the vessel type would have been used to attach ring handles.
Information
Title
Hu 壺 (storage jar)
Dates
1st century BCE
Medium
Earthenware with painted decoration
Dimensions
h. with lid 55.0 cm., diam. 37.2 cm. (21 5/8 x 14 5/8 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, Fowler McCormick, Class of 1921, Fund
Object Number
y1986-111 a-b
Place Made
Asia, China
Culture
Period
Materials
Subject
[Hung Kee Antique Shop, 2-4, Upper Laskar Row, Sheung-wan, Hong Kong]; purchased by the Princeton University Art Museum with the Fowler McCormick, Class of 1921, Fund, 1986.
Storage jar (hu)
