Lot Essay
The jar in its form, body material and yellowish-green glaze is typical of the vessels made in Zhejiang province during the Han dynasty. Its glaze is, however, in particularly good condition. In detail it is an interesting amalgam of styles. Its flat base, flattened mouthrim and three raised ridges on the shoulder are similar to those seen on jars found in late Western Han and Eastern Han tombs such as those at Hejiayuan, Wuhu, Anhui province, see Kaogu xuebao, 1983, No.3, pl.xxiii-4. The distinctive horns on the handles and the relatively high strut used to hold the upper part of the handle away from the body of the vessel are similar to those seen on vessels which usually stand on three small feet, such as those excavated from a Western Han tomb at Kuishan, Xuzhou in Jiangsu province, see Kaogu, 1974, No.2, pl.vii-1. The cash-like designs, which fill all three of the decorative registers, have an accurate coin shape but the details on them are corrupt versions of the characters which would have appeared on real coins (possibly a result of the craftsmen being illiterate). These coin designs appear on a number of jars of the Eastern Han period, including one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, see Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, vol.II The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Kodansha, no.13, and another in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, see Collection of Masterpieces of Chinese Cultural Relics - Ceramics, Hong Kong, 1993, no.037.