Fine Large Chinese Han Dynasty Glazed Pottery Jar with Oxford TL Test

Fine Large Chinese Han Dynasty Glazed Pottery Hu Jar (with Oxford TL Test)

This fine and impressive pottery jar (hu) was made during the Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 220). It is made from a fairly high-fired reddish pottery and coated in a particularly attractive glossy thick streaky green and finely-crackled glaze, the colour of which varies according to its thickness. Interestingly, the drips of glaze to the mouth rim and the pooling of glaze to the flat base show that this jar was fired upside down. In places the glaze has acquired a silvery iridescence, a reaction of the glaze to long exposure to moisture. There is a kiln scar to the lower body that has been touched-in with water colour pigment.

The shoulder and waist are decorated with incised grooves with two moulded "taotie" ring handles on opposing sides at the waist.

Height 36 cm (14 inches). It is fine condition with no sign of any restoration or repair; a truely outstanding example.

We bought this jar for our personal collection in the 1990s and have not previously offered it for sale. In 2019, as with many of our finer items, we had this jar tested by Oxford Authentications, the ONLY testers of ancient pottery accepted by ALL major dealers, auction rooms and museums worldwide, with a result of a date of manufacture of "between 1500 and 2400 years ago". We show the Thermoluminescence Analysis Report that will accompany this jar.

This jar is available to view here at our gallery in Brighton.

Similar examples are illustrated and described in the fine Southeast Asian Ceramic Society book, "Spirit of Han".

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