1943.55.14: Winged Oval Cup (Erbei) Painted to Simulate Lacquer
VesselsGallery Text
Bronze and lacquer ritual vessels were expensive commodities that only the privileged class could afford, but in the Han dynasty, ceramic funerary wares that simulated these luxurious vessels became a more affordable means of outfitting one’s tomb, as a finished ceramic piece required far less fuel and specialized labor than a bronze or lacquer. The earthenware ceramics on display here date to the Western Han period (when the capital was located in modern-day Xi’an, Shaanxi province) and imitated ritual vessels with painted-lacquer decoration. Fired at relatively low temperatures, earthenware vessels are not fully vitrified and are slightly porous, making them less than ideal as containers for daily use, but suitable as burial items. Few colored compounds can withstand kiln temperatures without alteration; in order to replicate the multiple bright colors and dynamic designs of painted lacquers, mineral pigments were applied to earthenware vessels after firing and are hence “cold-painted.”
Identification and Creation
- Object Number
- 1943.55.14
- Title
- Winged Oval Cup (Erbei) Painted to Simulate Lacquer
- Classification
- Vessels
- Work Type
- vessel
- Date
- 1st-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/204037
Location
- Location
-
Level 1, Room 1600, Early Chinese Art, Arts of Ancient China from the Bronze Age to the Golden Age
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Physical Descriptions
- Medium
- Cold-painted funerary ware: molded light gray earthenware with cold-painted red pigment
- Dimensions
- H. 4 x W. 14.2 x D. 10.1 cm (1 9/16 x 5 9/16 x 4 in.)
Provenance
- Recorded Ownership History
- Grenville L. Winthrop, New York (by 1943), bequest; to Fogg Art Museum, 1943.
Acquisition and Rights
- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
- Accession Year
- 1943
- Object Number
- 1943.55.14
- Division
- Asian and Mediterranean Art
- Contact
- am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
- Permissions
-
THIS WORK MAY NOT BE LENT BY THE TERMS OF ITS ACQUISITION TO THE HARVARD ART MUSEUMS.
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Exhibition History
- 32Q: 1600 Early China II, Harvard Art Museums, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050
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Verification Level
This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or 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