Jar

Date13th century

Label TextLayers of dark brown slip were cut away to reveal a layer underneath of white slip, a technique known as sgraffito, skillfully applied in some of the most striking examples of Cizhou ware. Carved black wares such as these were particularly popular in northern China, from the Xixia to the Yuan dynasties.

Object number43.8

ProvenanceYamanaka & Co., Inc, United States, to 1942; [liquidation sale by Alien Property Custodian, Yamanaka & Co., Inc., 1943, lot 648]; purchased from Yamanaka Liquidation Sale by Seattle Art Museum, 1943

Photo CreditPhoto: Elizabeth Mann

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "Glaze, Pattern and Image: Decoration in Chinese Ceramics", September 7, 2002 - November 19, 2002 Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, "Chinese Art: A Seattle Perspective", December 22, 2007 - July 26, 2009 (12/22/2007 - 7/26/2009). Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Boundless: Stories of Asian Art, Feb. 8, 2020 - ongoing.Published ReferencesFoong, Ping, Xiaojin Wu, and Darielle Mason. "An Asian Art Museum Transformed." Orientations vol. 51, no. 3 (May/June 2020): p. 61, reproduced fig. 22 (installation view).

Credit LineThomas D. Stimson Memorial Collection

Dimensions11 in. (28 cm) Girth: 9 in. Diam.: 2 in.

MediumStoneware with underglaze, carved decoration in brown-black, white slip