Storage Jar

This elegant storage jar made in vague imitation of contemporary bronze vessels was created by building up coiled strips of clay which were finished on a slow-turning potter's wheel. Set on opposite sides of the shoulder are two mold-impressed plaques centered under the loose ring handles. The main decoration consists of two continuous registers of neatly incised vertical fluting. The finely worked precise detailing lends a sense of formal majesty to this exceptional example of early celadon ware. High-fired stoneware with shapes, decorations, and glazes similar to this vessel have been excavated from Warring States (475-221 BCE) tombs in Guixi, Jiangxi province and Shaoxing, Zhejiang province in southeastern China.