Jades for Life and Death

Classification: Vessel

Historical period(s): early Anyang period, Late Shang dynasty, ca. 1200 BCE

Object Date: ca. 1200 BCE

Medium: Unglazed white pottery

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 33.3 × 30.3 × 31.1 cm (13 1/8 × 11 15/16 × 12 1/4 in)

Origin: China, probably Henan province, Anyang

Credit Line: Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1939.42

Provenance: To 1939
Tonying and Company, New York [1]

From 1939
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Tonying and Company, New York [2]

Notes:

[1] Curatorial Remark 1 in the object record.

[2] See note 1.

Previous owner(s): Tonying and Company 通運公司 (established 1902)

Description: Jar (mouth broken and repaired).
Clay: hard, white, unglazed.
Decoration: carved design in countersunk relief in two registers. Three pierced knobs in true relief in the form of water-buffalo heads. Traces of red pigment around neck.

Past label text: 1. (L. A. Cort, exhibition label, 1986) The rare Shang white pottery has been found in such small quantities, all in the vicinity of the late Shang capital at Anyang, that it may have been the product of a single specialized workshop. The brittle ware, formed from pure white clay, was probably made for ceremonial and burial purposes. The carved and stamped motifs on white pottery resemble bronze vessel decor but developed as an independent sequence.

2. (Louise Cort, exhibition label text, "Chinese Ceramics," Gallery I, Case 1: "Early Chinese Earthenware," March 1987-July 1988) The earliest Chinese pottery was made in Neolithic sites in the Yellow River valley. The earthenware of the Yang-shao cultures was shaped thinly by hand, painted with distinctive local styles of designs, and fired to a low temperature. Some potters continued to produce eartheneware during the Shang dynasty (ca. 1523-ca. 1050 B.C.), when the stately vessels, no longer painted, reflected the molded decoration of ritual bronze vessels. Other Shang-dynasty potters were already developing the techniques of firing clay to a high temperature and applying glazes.

3. (Keith Wilson, Anyang: China's Ancient City of Kings, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, February 25, 2023 to April 28, 2024)

Ritual wine container (hu)
with masks (taotie) and dragons
Early Anyang period, ca. 1200 BCE

Bronze
Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment

F1948.1

Storage jar (lei)
Early Anyang period,

ca. 1200 BCE

Unglazed white pottery
Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment
F1939.42

Vessels Fit for a King
These impressive storage containers—like all the objects in
this gallery—were made in large, officially run facilities that
were organized like factories, with a division of skilled labor.
The ceramic jar belongs to a rare class of whiteware found in
the tombs of early Anyang kings. It required kaolin—the same
clay mineral used in later Chinese porcelain—and a high firing temperature of around 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit. Anyang’s
multiple large bronze foundries served not only the king but
also elites in the city and beyond. These enormous operations
and the acquisition of the raw materials of copper, tin, and lead
that fed them were overseen by officers accountable to the king.

This radiograph shows that, although
the jar was reconstructed from
unearthed fragments, it is largely
original and contains few modern
fills. Here, modern materials appear
as very dark or white patches

Curatorial Remarks

1. Bought from Tonying & Co. Inc., New York, N.Y. For price, see Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List after 1920.

2. (A. G. Wenley, 1939) G. D. Wu in his Prehistoric Pottery of China, pp. 41-42, says that this type of pottery is made of china clay or kaolin, the softness of the clay being due to the low temperature [c. 900-1000 C.] in which it was baked. The ware is made by the beater process, the impression of the beater being destroyed and the surface smoothed with the wet hand; hence the apparently polished surface. The carved design is similar to that on bronzes of the period. The repair in the neck of the jar is a reconstruction of a lost piece. The two registers of decoration are on: (1) the shoulder where a formal dragon design is shown; (2) rows of zigzag bands of meander pattern separated by undecorated zigzag bands.

3. (L. A. Cort, exhibition label, 1986) The rare Shang white pottery has been found in such small quantities, all in the vicinity of the late Shang capital at Anyang, that it may have been the product of a single specialized workshop. The brittle ware, formed from pure white clay, was probably made for ceremonial and burial purposes. The carved and stamped motifs on white pottery resemble bronze vessel decor but developed as an independent sequence.

4. (L. A. Cort, exhibition label, "Chinese Ceramics," Gallery I, Case I: "Early Chinese Earthenware," March 1987 - July 1988) The earliest Chinese pottery was made in Neolithic sites in the Yellow River valley. The earthenware of the Yang-shao culture was shaped thinly by hand, painted with distinctive local styles of designs, and fired to a low temperature. Some potters continued to produce earthenware during the Shang dynasty (ca. 1523 - ca. 1050 B. C.), when the stately vessels, no longer painted, reflected the molded decoration of ritual bronze vessels. Other Shang-dynasty potters were already developing the techniques of firing clay to a high temperature and applying glazes.

5. (Yagi Akira, ceramic artist, Kyoto, 4 October 1994) The piece is carved by hand, not molded. The clay is not vitrified; it resembles the kind of clay known in Japan as gairome.

6. (Liu Xinyuan, Director, Jingdezhen Institute of Ceramic Technology; 11 October 1994) What is the red pigment?

7. (Louise Cort, 12 February 2002) Added "Henan province, Anyang."

8. (Louise Cort, 18 October 2002) Dimensions: "Mouth: 12.8, Foot: 13.0
[TCK, 21 Dec 2001, above dimensions]" deleted.

9. (Louise Cort, 27 April 2009) Jan Stuart, Keeper of Asia, British Museum, recommended restudying this pot to determine the degree to which it is intact and all the components are authentic.

10. (S. Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, 7 July 2010) Added "with dragons" to title; changed period one from Shang to Late Shang dynasty; added period two "Early Anyang period."
11. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, April 7,2020) Title changed from "ca. late 13th-early 12th century BCE" to "ca. 1225-1175", "Shang dynasty" to "Late Shang dynasty."
12. (YinYing Chen per Keith Wilson, February 9, 2023)
Change title from "Jar" to "Storage jar (lei)."
Change date from "ca. 1225-1175 BCE" to " ca. 1200 BCE."
Change period two from "Early Anyang period" to "early Anyang period."
Change geography from "China, Henan province, Anyang" to "China, probably Henan province, Anyang."

Published References: Published References are currently unavailable.

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Storage jar (lei)

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