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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2006.170.187
Title
Elliptical cup (erbei)
Other Titles
Original Language Title: 東漢 灰陶耳杯
Classification
Vessels
Work Type
vessel
Date
early 1st-early 3rd century CE
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Han dynasty, Eastern Han period, 25-220 CE
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/189162

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Earthenware with cold painted pigment
Dimensions
H. 3.3 x L. 12.7 x W. 9.8 cm (1 5/16 x 5 x 3 7/8 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
[J.J. Lally & Co., New York, April 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 Ernest B. and Helen Pratt Dane Fund for Asian Art
Accession Year
2006
Object Number
2006.170.187
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Descriptions

Description
Shallow cup of oblong, elliptical form with crescent-shaped handles positioned bilaterally on the long sides; known as an erbei (“ear cup”), due to the handles’ resemblance to human ears; gray earthenware with remains of cold-painted red pigment o the interior.
Commentary
Compare to:
(1) Earthenware erbei cup with cold-painted red pigment on the interior excavated in 1991 from a late Eastern Han brick tomb near Yujia village, Qian’an county, Hebei province. See Wenwu [Cultural Relics] 10 (1996): 34, figs. 15-16.
(2) Gray earthenware erbei cup excavated in 1984 from an Eastern Han tomb in Zibo, Shandong province. Kaogu [Archaeology] 8 (1986): 722, fig. 6.3.
(3) Similar erbei cup with red pigment on the interior in the Harvard Art Museums collection (1943.55.14).

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