1984.159: Small "Hu" Jar with Two Small Handles

Identification and Creation

Object Number

1984.159

Title

Small "Hu" Jar with Two Small Handles

Classification

Vessels

Work Type

vessel

Date

Liangzhu culture, 3300-2000 BCE

Places

Creation Place: East Asia, China, Zhejiang Province, Liangzhu

Period

Neolithic period

Culture

Chinese

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/201530

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Dark gray earthenware with inscription incised on the interior wall of the footring after firing

Dimensions

H. 12.5 x Diam. 11.2 cm (4 15/16 x 4 7/16 in.)

Inscriptions and Marks

• inscription: This inscription is controversial (see Kaplan). Tentative translation: "May sons and grandsons treasure this in perpetuity" (see Shangraw).

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History

Mr. and Mrs. Fritz W. Bilfinger, Zurich, Switzerland (by 1984), sold; to Harvard University Art Museums, 1984.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Ernest B. and Helen Pratt Dane Fund for Asian Art in honor of Professor Max Loehr

Accession Year

1984

Object Number

1984.159

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

Publication History

• Sidney M. Kaplan, "Early Pottery from the Liang Chu Site, Chekiang province", Archives of the Chinese Art Society of America, Archives of the Chinese Art Society of America (New York, NY, 1948 -1949), vol. III, plate XV 1a, 1b, 1c
• Clarence Shangraw, Origins of Chinese Ceramics, exh. cat., China House Gallery (New York, NY, 1978), p. 54, cat. no. 5

Verification Level