Tall Chinese Han Dynasty Glazed Pottery Hu Jar

This attractive pottery jar (or hu) was made during the Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 220). Its form is probably the most well-known of Han Dynasty pottery and every museum collection of Chinese ancient pottery will have an example. It is "heavily-potted" and made from a reddish pottery. The body and neck are decorated with bands of grooves that encircle the body. On opposing sides at the waist are moulded taotie mask ring handles. What makes this example particularly attractive, however, is the thick glossy green glaze. The colour of the glaze does vary a little in places, particularly to the lower body where it is a little thinner than above and more "streaky". As a result of some 2,000 years of exposure to moisture the glaze has, in places, acquired a silvery iridescence to its surface.

It was the practice of the Han potter to stack such vessels on top of each other in the kiln, and this example is no exception with kiln scars to both the rim and the flat base.

This is a large and impressive jar with a height of 37 cm (14.5 inches). It is free from restoration or repair, although there is an ancient chip to the neck that has been touch-in with green watercolour pigment (very easy to remove), and there is surface wear / scratching to the lower body in places. Overall, it is a very nice example of its type.

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