Pair of Owl-shaped Jars
-206–9
- Medium
- Amber-brown glazed low-fired pottery
- Dimensions
- Overall: 19 x 13.8 x 11.8 cm (7 1/2 x 5 7/16 x 4 5/8 in.)
- Genre
- Ceramics
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art
Styles
Tags
China, Henan province, Western Han dynasty (206 BCE–8 CE)
About
Pottery vessels in the shape of owls were made since Neolithic times and throughout the Bronze age. These jars in the form of vigilant owls may have provided a tomb occupant with grain in the afterlife. However, the meaning of these mysterious birds and the association of the owl motif with burial sites in China is not fully understood.