Tomb jar

Tomb jar

early 1st-early 3rd century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Yamanaka and Co.

Earthenware with copper-green lead-silicate glaze

HxW: 33.6 x 26.6 cm

F1905.84

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2

199

West

Eastern Han dynasty

China

United States

New York

New York

Tomb jar

Tomb jar

early 1st-early 3rd century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Yamanaka and Co.

Earthenware with copper-green lead-silicate glaze

HxW: 37.6 x 27.9 cm

F1906.247

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2

198

West

Eastern Han dynasty

China

United States

New York

New York

Tomb jar

Tomb jar

early 1st-early 3rd century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Yamanaka and Co.

Earthenware with copper-green lead-silicate glaze

HxW: 38.0 x 26.3 cm

F1905.89

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2

176

West

Eastern Han dynasty

China

United States

New York

New York

Tomb jar

Tomb jar

early 1st-early 3rd century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Yamanaka and Co.

Earthenware with copper-green lead-silicate glaze

HxW: 43.2 x 35.0 cm

F1900.45

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2

169

West

Eastern Han dynasty

China

United States

New York

New York

Tomb jar

Tomb jar (hu)

early 1st-early 3rd century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Yamanaka and Co.

Earthenware with copper-green lead-silicate glaze

HxW: 36.4 x 29.2 cm

F1905.87

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2

164

West

Eastern Han dynasty

China

United States

New York

New York

Tomb jar

Tomb jar

In the Peacock Room in Detroit, Freer displayed this Han dynasty tomb jar with several other examples of early Chinese funerary wares. The cultural significance of the jar, however, was probably less compelling for him than its textured, iridescent silvery-green surface. Around the same time that he purchased the jar, he was also acquiring medieval Near Eastern ceramics and contemporary art pottery from Detroit's Pewabic workshop. Both of these types of ceramics also featured iridescent glazes and mottled surfaces, qualities that, for Freer, resonated with the tonalism of his American paintings collection.

early 1st-early 3rd century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Yamanaka and Co.

Earthenware with copper-green lead-silicate glaze

HxW: 38.5 x 30.4 cm

F1905.82

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2

143

West

Eastern Han dynasty

China

United States

New York

New York

Tomb jar

Tomb jar

An oxidized, iridescent patina resulting from disintegration of the glaze adds to the surface complexity of this Eastern Han dynasty tomb jar. Dated to first- to the early-third-century China, it was purchased by Freer in 1905, from the New York store of Yamanaka and Company. He was probably less interested in its cultural origins than in its aesthetic qualities, which he believed harmonized with the tonalism of his American paintings.

early 1st-early 3rd century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Yamanaka and Co.

Earthenware with copper-green lead-silicate glaze

HxW: 14.2 x 17.5 cm

F1905.88

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2

129

West

Eastern Han dynasty

China

United States

New York

New York

Tomb lamp in the form of a seated figure holding a child

Tomb lamp

In his object notes about this second-century Han dynasty tomb lamp, Freer called it "historically important." On his invoice from Yamanaka and Company, from whom he purchased this lamp in 1904, Freer added a note that the vessel was said to have come from the collection of a soldier in Beijing. The vessel is also iconographically interesting in that it bears the motif of a mother and child, traditional Chinese symbols of good luck, future progeny, and family survival.

2nd century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Yamanaka and Co.

Earthenware with copper-green lead-silicate glaze

HxWxD: 22.7 x 9.8 x 9.6 cm

F1904.332

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2

126

West

Eastern Han dynasty

China

United States

New York

New York

Tomb vessel with lid ("hill jar")

Tomb vessel

This lidded vessel is one of two closely related Eastern Han dynasty tomb jars that Freer exhibited on what is now the east wall of the Peacock Room, adjacent to one of the gilded peacock shutters. In China, this jar would have been filled with a funeral offering, but Freer was more interested in its aesthetic qualities - its light green glaze with a silvery iridescence that harmonized not only with other ceramics, but with his collection of American tonalist paintings as well.

early 1st-early 3rd century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Yamanaka and Co.

Earthenware with copper-green lead-silicate glaze

HxW: 227.0 x 20.3 cm

F1906.246a-b

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2

86

East

Eastern Han dynasty

China

United States

New York

New York

Tomb jar

Tomb jar

In the Peacock Room in Detroit, Freer displayed this Han dynasty tomb jar with several other examples of early Chinese funerary wares. The cultural significance of the jar, however, was probably less compelling for him than its subtly textured, slightly iridescent green surface. Shortly after he purchased this vessel, he began to acquire medieval Near Eastern ceramics and contemporary art pottery from Detroit's Pewabic workshop. Both of these types of ceramics also featured iridescent glazes and mottled surfaces, qualities that, for Freer, resonated with the tonalism of his American paintings collection.

early 1st-early 3rd century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Yamanaka and Co.

Earthenware with copper-green lead-silicate glaze

HxW: 14.4 x 18.1 cm

F1902.202

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2

81

East

Eastern Han dynasty

China

United States

New York

New York

Tomb vessel with lid ("hill jar")

Tomb vessel

This Eastern Han dynasty tomb jar, purchased by Freer in 1905, came from the New York gallery of Yamanaka and Company. In China, it would have been filled with funeral offerings, but Freer was more interested in its aesthetic qualities than its original use. This example features a bluish-green glaze with a golden iridescence and an overflow of yellow. The lid has been repaired with gold lacquer, giving it a particularly apt chromatic resonance with the Peacock Room, whose secondary title is "Harmony in Blue and Gold." The following year, Freer purchased a similar specimen from the same dealer, which he displayed adjacent to this one.

early 1st-early 3rd century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Yamanaka and Co.

Earthenware with copper-green lead-silicate glaze

HxW: 24.9 x 21.5 cm

F1905.83a-b

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2

79

East

Eastern Han dynasty

China

United States

New York

New York