Pedestal Jar with Long Neck
Korean
Description
March 28, 2009
This thin-walled jar attests to the skill of the Silla potter working in the thriving industry of mortuary ceramics during the Three Kingdoms period. Each component—the flaring neck, the globular body, and the base—was made separately and then joined together. The cutouts in the low pedestal base were made when the clay was partially hardened. Two narrow bands of wavy combed patterns and a few raised lines decorate the body, which is made of sandy fine clay marked by air bubbles, adding an attractive surface texture. Archeological findings suggest that this vessel type was used in funerary rituals to hold food offerings for the deceased.
(Label for UMMA Korean Gallery Opening Rotation, March 2009)
Subject Matter:
Used in funerary rituals to offer food to the deceased.
Physical Description:
Thin-walled jar consisting of a base, globular body, and flaring neck. The piece is decorated with a bubbled design, and the base has evenly spaced rectangular cutouts. The body is incised with two narrow bands of combed wavy patterns that lay just below sets of two indented lines.
The long neck of this dark gray or yellow-gray, high-fired stoneware jar with a pedestal splays outwards in a straight line. The rim of the jar is narrow and flat, while the neck is divided into two sections by a set of three narrow, sharp and horizontal ridges. The lower neck section features a wave design that was produced using a five-tooth comb. The body is widest towards its upper-middle part, above which is located a single laterally incised line. A wave design has been applied using a three-tooth comb 1.5cm below this line. The pedestal is short, curves slightly outwards and features five square perforations. Overall, the jar is poorly fired, resulting in surface bubbles. The lower part of the jar features a particularly high concentration of bubbles.
[Korean Collection, University of Michigan Museum of Art (2017) p. 53]
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