Accession Number
1981/2.76

Title
Dish

Artist(s)
Chinese

Artist Nationality
Chinese (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
25 -220

Medium & Support
earthenware with lead glaze

Dimensions
5 7/16 in x 5 3/8 in x 5 3/8 in (13.8 cm x 13.7 cm x 13.7 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of F. Karel Wiest

Subject matter
By the Western Han dynasty, basic household bowls, plates, basins, jars, etc. were produced in great quantity, not only for use in daily life, but also specifically for tombs as mingqi (明器), literally "bright objects", or grave goods, as a way to provide for the deceased. These mingqi included everything one would need during the afterlife, naturally, these objects reflected daily life during the Han. Mingqi could include houses, towers, gates, granaries, livestock pens, chicken coops, wells, cooking stoves, storage vessels, dishes, incense burners, lamps and figures such as horses, dogs, anthropomorphic animals, and people such as officials, guardians, servants and entertainers, and more. The number of ceramic mingqi items in a tomb could reach numbers of a few to several hundred objects. Bowls or basins such as this would have been widely used by almost every stratum of society.

Physical Description
Red earthenware, flat bottomed bowl with rounded sides and thick rim, molded with wave pattern to exterior wall, covered in amber and green lead glaze, with iridescence and calcification.

Primary Object Classification
Ceramic

Primary Object Type
dish

Collection Area
Asian

Rights
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Keywords
bowls (vessels)
ceramic (material)
ceramics (object genre)
dishes (vessels)
earthenware
grave goods
lead glaze