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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2006.170.161.A-B
Title
Covered, squared jar (fang) with recumbent feline base
Other Titles
Original Language Title: 西漢 彩繪陶臥獸座鈁
Classification
Vessels
Work Type
vessel
Date
late 2nd century BCE
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Han dynasty, Western Han period, 206 BCE-9 CE
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/182174

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Gray earthenware with cold-painted pigments
Dimensions
H. 41.9 x W. 43.5 x D. 23.6 cm (16 1/2 x 17 1/8 x 9 5/16 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
[Galerie Gisèle Croës - Arts d'Extreme-Orient, Brussels, Belgium, May 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 Alpheus Hyatt Purchasing Fund
Accession Year
2006
Object Number
2006.170.161.A-B
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
Vessel in the form of a cat bearing the upper portion of a squared wine jar (fang) on its back; the cat’s head raised with eyes open and mouth closed, legs bent and gathered beneath its body, tail curled upward and back towards the jar; two sides of the jar have a molded pushou-masks intended to support ring-handles; one iron ring survives; a pyramid-shaped lid covers the jar; molded gray earthenware with applique elements and traces of red and white pigments on the exterior and red pigment on the interior.
Commentary
Compare to:
A pair of nearly identical vessels with “fang” wine jars set on the backs of recumbent felines excavated from a mid-Western Han period tomb (late 2nd century BCE) tomb at the No. 1 Middle School site in Nanyang, Henan province. See Jianghan kaogu [Jianghan Archaeology] 2 (2011): 81, pl. 1, no. B-M36:14. (Full excavation report unpublished.)

Publication History

  • Gisèle Croës: Light for the After-Life, New York, March 2000, auct. cat., Galereie Gisèle Croës - Arts d'Extreme-Orient (Brussels, 2000), pp.90-91, p. 69 (detail)

Subjects and Contexts

  • Sedgwick Collection

Related Works

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