Round storage jar on cut-out pedestal foot

Subject Matter:

Two types of stoneware jars were made in Silla. Short-necked jars were used to store grain or liquid, while long-necked jars, often with a pierced stand, were used for ceremonies and placed in the tomb with the dead. Burial chamber were filled with such pieces, which were meant to serve the dead in the afterlife. A great deal of our understanding about the material culture of Silla comes from such burial goods.

Physical Description:

This light grayish-blue stoneware jar consists of a globular body, short straight mouth and a little high flared pedestal foot. The body is decorated with two incised line and combed wave design. The foot whose bottom is rolled outward is a little high.

This is a dark-gray, short-necked, high-fired stoneware jar with a pedestal. The neck is slightly splayed and then curves inwards towards a slightly blunt rim. Two sharp horizontal ridges mark the areas, respectively, where the vessel mouth and neck, and the neck and shoulder meet. The body is widest at its center. A set of two incised horizontal lines runs around the upper part of the body creating a wide raised band. The same technique was used to form two wide raised bands along the lower part of the body. A slightly crude wave design has been incised on the surface in between the upper and lower bands, as well as above the upper band. The pedestal is widely splayed, features four rectangular perforations, and has a round, thick edge.

[Korean Collection, University of Michigan Museum of Art (2017) p. 50]

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