Large covered hu (wine storage jar) with molded taotie masks and painted designs of stylized clouds and Mount Penglai

Accession Number
1993/1.77.1-2

Title
Large covered hu (wine storage jar) with molded taotie masks and painted designs of stylized clouds and Mount Penglai

Artist(s)
Chinese

Artist Nationality
Chinese (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
1st century BCE

Medium & Support
grey earthenware with polychrome pigments

Dimensions
22 1/16 in. x 13 in. x 9 13/16 in. ( 56 cm x 33 cm x 25 cm )

Credit Line
Gift of Domino's Pizza, Inc.

Label copy
This hu-shaped mortuary jar is unglazed and richly hand-decorated red pigments and white slip (liquid clay) against a black pigment ground, unlike the other two mortuary jars in this case, which are glazed. The swirling painted patterns are taken from textile design, an emergent art form in Han times. The peaks of Mount Penglai, the Daoist abode of immortality, appear above flowing bands of stylized clouds.
Lacquer vessels of this shape and decoration have been found in Han tombs throughout China, particularly in the south and west. These findings point to the strong connections between pottery, lacquer, bronze, and textile art in ancient China. This integration of diverse art mediums would characterize Chinese imperial art down through the centuries.
(Label for UMMA Chinese Gallery Opening Rotation, March 2009)

Subject matter
mystical cloud of Taoist inspiration, once part of a set of food and wine vessels furnished the tombs of the well-to-do families as grave goods

Physical Description
greyware jar with lid, pained with polychrome mystic cloud design, flared neck, globular body, tall foot

Primary Object Classification
Ceramic

Primary Object Type
funerary jar

Additional Object Classification(s)
Ritual Object

Collection Area
Asian

Rights
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Keywords
funerary art
jars
wine bottles

5 Related Resources

Death and Dying
(Part of 8 Learning Collections)
Daoism / Taoism
(Part of: Religion and Spirituality)
Earthenware
(Part of: Tremel Ceramic Production Collection)

& Author Notes

Web Use Permitted

On display

UMMA Gallery Location ➜ FFW, Mezzanine ➜ M06 (Shirley Chang Gallery of Chinese Art)