.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
In ancient China the idea of a full granary carried with it the associations of prosperity and security. It is not surprising therefore to find that, from early times, ceramic models of granaries were made to accompany the deceased into the afterworld. In the Han dynasty, for example, unglazed and lead-glazed earthenware granaries were often placed in tombs. These Han dynasty models were, on the whole, relatively simple constructions - essentially cylindrical with details indicating a tiled roof. Some writers have suggested that the multi-storey towers made in Han times were also storehouses, on the basis that a few examples, like that in the Burrell collection in Glasgow, illustrated by R. Scott and R. Marks, et al., The Burrell Collection, London and Glasgow, 1984, p. 44, pl. 4, show men carrying sacks walking up a ramp into the building.
The current Song dynasty qingbai-glazed granary is clearly identified by the inscription incised over the doorway which reads: wu deng cang, 'Granary of Five Harvests'. This would have been the ideal, to have five harvests' worth of grain stored for future use, although interestingly, the doorway is divided into six sections, each one bearing one of the numerals one to six, in ascending order from floor to ceiling. Perhaps this was to indicate that the owner of the tomb might be fortunate enough in the afterlife to add yet another year's harvest to his store.
The Falk granary is a particularly well-made example, and may have been intended for a person of considerable social status. A similarly shaped, but rather simpler, slightly smaller, qingbai granary was excavated from a Southern Song tomb in the city of Nanchang, Jiangxi province in 1986. This granary, illustrated by Chen Baiquan in 'The Development of Song Dynasty Qingbai Wares from Jingdezhen', The Porcelains of Jingdezhen - Colloquies on Art & Archaeology in Asia No. 16, R. Scott (ed.), Percival David Foundation, London, 1993, p. 19, pl. 10, shares with the Falk granary a large, bud-shaped, roof finial, as well as similar roof ridges and tiling details. An even more simplified and smaller qingbai granary was found at a Southern Song site in Sichuan province and is now in the Chengdu City Museum in Sichuan. This Sichuan granary, which has minimal roof details and has also lost its door, is illustrated in Zhongguo Taoci Quanji, 16, Song Yuan Qingbaici, Shanghai, 1984, no. 27. A second of these simple granaries, this one without a door opening, was excavated in 1978 from a tomb in Chongren county, dated to AD 1251. This example, now in the Jiangxi Provincial Museum, is illustrated in Dated Qingbai Wares of the Song and Yuan Dynasties, Hong Kong, 1998, p. 79, no. 89.
Another more simplified model of a granary is illustrated by B. Gyllensvärd in Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1964, p. 160, no. 514.
The current Song dynasty qingbai-glazed granary is clearly identified by the inscription incised over the doorway which reads: wu deng cang, 'Granary of Five Harvests'. This would have been the ideal, to have five harvests' worth of grain stored for future use, although interestingly, the doorway is divided into six sections, each one bearing one of the numerals one to six, in ascending order from floor to ceiling. Perhaps this was to indicate that the owner of the tomb might be fortunate enough in the afterlife to add yet another year's harvest to his store.
The Falk granary is a particularly well-made example, and may have been intended for a person of considerable social status. A similarly shaped, but rather simpler, slightly smaller, qingbai granary was excavated from a Southern Song tomb in the city of Nanchang, Jiangxi province in 1986. This granary, illustrated by Chen Baiquan in 'The Development of Song Dynasty Qingbai Wares from Jingdezhen', The Porcelains of Jingdezhen - Colloquies on Art & Archaeology in Asia No. 16, R. Scott (ed.), Percival David Foundation, London, 1993, p. 19, pl. 10, shares with the Falk granary a large, bud-shaped, roof finial, as well as similar roof ridges and tiling details. An even more simplified and smaller qingbai granary was found at a Southern Song site in Sichuan province and is now in the Chengdu City Museum in Sichuan. This Sichuan granary, which has minimal roof details and has also lost its door, is illustrated in Zhongguo Taoci Quanji, 16, Song Yuan Qingbaici, Shanghai, 1984, no. 27. A second of these simple granaries, this one without a door opening, was excavated in 1978 from a tomb in Chongren county, dated to AD 1251. This example, now in the Jiangxi Provincial Museum, is illustrated in Dated Qingbai Wares of the Song and Yuan Dynasties, Hong Kong, 1998, p. 79, no. 89.
Another more simplified model of a granary is illustrated by B. Gyllensvärd in Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1964, p. 160, no. 514.