Pair of Leather Bag-Shaped Flasks with Covers
916–1125
- Medium
- earthenware with green glaze
- Dimensions
- Part 1: 24.5 x 16.5 x 16 cm (9 5/8 x 6 1/2 x 6 5/16 in.); Part 2: 23.5 x 17.5 x 13.8 cm (9 1/4 x 6 7/8 x 5 7/16 in.)
- Genre
- Ceramics
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art
Styles
Tags
Northeast China, Liao dynasty (916-1125)
About
Flasks like these derive their shapes from leather bags; even the edges are finely rouletted to resemble the seams of sewn leather. These were used by the nomadic Khitan people who established the Liao kingdom in Inner Mongolia, Manchuria, and North China. Such wares represented the Liao adoption of the Tang Chinese ceramic tradition, and yet they expressed ethnic identity and new innovations resulted from the cultural borrowing.