Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

Ashmolean − Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

The Barlow Collection

A select catalogue of the Barlow collection of Chinese Ceramics, Bronzes and Jades by the University of Sussex (published Sussex, 2006).

The Barlow Collection by the University of Sussex

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Greenware ewer with chicken head spout

  • Literature notes

    A similar piece has been excavated from a tomb in Zhejiang dated in accordance with AD 368. The brown spots in the green glaze are characteristic of the production of the Yue kilns during the Eastern Jin period (AD 317– 420).

    The ewer has an ovoid body with a concave base, slender neck with a wide, angular dish-shaped rim. A chicken-head is attached on the shoulder, originally opposite a handle which has been cut down and the remaining small bump carved to look like a tail. Two horizontal lugs are attached between spout and handle, over an incised line. The chicken head is raised on a tall neck and has raised dot-shaped eyes, a crenelated crest and a small tubular spout instead of a beak. The eyes and crest are accentuated in iron-brown and four further brown spots are painted on the rim, aligned with spout, handle and lugs. A smooth greyish-green glaze fully covers the piece except for the lowest part of the sides and the base, where the biscuit has fired a dark brick red and shows patches from firing supports.
  • Details

    Associated place
    AsiaChinaZhejiang province Yue kiln-sites (place of creation)
    Date
    4th - 5th century (AD 301 - 500)
    Eastern Jin Dynasty (AD 317 - 420)
    Material and technique
    stoneware, thrown, with incised and combed decoration under a green glaze; spout and lugs hand-modelled and luted to the ewer with slip; unglazed base; glazed rim
    Dimensions
    22.8 cm (height)
    18.5 cm (diameter)
    Material index
    Technique index
    Object type index
    No. of items
    1
    Credit line
    Lent by the Sir Alan Barlow Collection Trust.
    Accession no.
    LI1301.373
  • Further reading

    University of Sussex, and Arts and Humanities Research Council, The Barlow Collection, supervised by Regina Krahl, Maurice Howard, and Aiden Leeves (Sussex: University of Sussex, 2006), no. C373

Glossary (5)

glaze, hu, luted, slip, stoneware

  • glaze

    Vitreous coating applied to the surface of a ceramic to make it impermeable or for decorative effect.

  • hu

    A Chinese ritual baluster vessel.

  • luted

    The fusion of parts of ceramics using dilute clay slip.

  • slip

    A semi-fluid clay applied to a ceramic before glazing either to coat the surface or for decorative effect.

  • stoneware

    Ceramic material made of clay which is fired to a temperature of c.1200-1300⁰c and is often buff or grey in colour.

Location

    • Ground floor | Room 10 | China to 800

Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.

 

Publications online

  • The Barlow Collection by the University of Sussex

    The Barlow Collection

    A similar piece has been excavated from a tomb in Zhejiang dated in accordance with AD 368. The brown spots in the green glaze are characteristic of the production of the Yue kilns during the Eastern Jin period (AD 317– 420).

    The ewer has an ovoid body with a concave base, slender neck with a wide, angular dish-shaped rim. A chicken-head is attached on the shoulder, originally opposite a handle which has been cut down and the remaining small bump carved to look like a tail. Two horizontal lugs are attached between spout and handle, over an incised line. The chicken head is raised on a tall neck and has raised dot-shaped eyes, a crenelated crest and a small tubular spout instead of a beak. The eyes and crest are accentuated in iron-brown and four further brown spots are painted on the rim, aligned with spout, handle and lugs. A smooth greyish-green glaze fully covers the piece except for the lowest part of the sides and the base, where the biscuit has fired a dark brick red and shows patches from firing supports.
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