Covered jar

China

4th century BCE

Stoneware with accidental glazing

Minneapolis Institute of Art

A dark, round stoneware jar with a lid and two decorative handles sits on a pedestal. It has three small feet and a small green glaze drip on its side. Made in imitation of a ritual bronze vessel, this high-fired stoneware is unglazed except for some accidental splashes of green glaze on the lid. Throughout the Zhou period, high-fired, impressed stoneware continued to be refined, especially in the lower reaches of the Yangzi and the southeastern provinces. For many years, the glazed and unglazed stonewares remained similar in technique and decoration. By the Eastern Zhou, glazed wares became more numerous and, by the Warring States (475-221 BCE) era, about half of all ceramics were glazed. Gallery G204 Gift of funds from Curtis Dunnavan