Minneapolis Institute of Art

Guan Storage Jar

China

Date

2nd-1st century BCE

Medium

Yue ware High-fired stoneware with incised decor under a celadon glaze

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Building up coiled strips of rather coarse clay created the body of this relatively popular western Han vessel type. Applied to the shoulder area is a thin, yellowish-green glaze associated with several Western Han burials excavated in present day Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. The jar has been fired at a relatively high temperature (about 1200 degrees C.) giving rise to its popular descriptive term, proto-porcelain. Analysis of slightly later Eastern Han (1st century) green glazed ware from Shangyu in Zhejiang province shows that it was fired at about 1300 degrees C. making this type of Yue ware, the first mature porcelain in China. Though difficult to produce, the serviceable quality of the well-bonded glazes and hard durable bodies of these early high-fired stonewares was greatly appreciated. Asia

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