Globular Jar with Four Loops (960–1279): Art, History and Details

Globular Jar with Four Loops (960–1279) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

In the 900s, potters in southeast China excelled in producing white ceramics, including bluish-white (qingbai; 青白) glazed ware. The Keithleys’ jar was made when the qingbai ware–producing kilns were most active and manufactured their finest ware. The jar is missing its cover, which would have been flat with a loop in the center so that it could be tied in place with a string or silk cloth.

Object facts

• Title: Globular Jar with Four Loops
• Date: 960–1279
• Culture: China, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279)
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: Porcelaneous ware of the qingbai type
• Dimensions: Overall: 15 x 13 cm (5 7/8 x 5 1/8 in.)
• Collection: China - Song Dynasty
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 2020.184

A detail from the museum

This container was probably used to store tea or grain.

Collection credit

Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift

Further reading listed by the museum

• Von Spee, Clarissa. "Chinese Ceramics and Works on Paper." In The Keithley Collection at the Cleveland Museum of Art, edited by Heather Lemonedes Brown, 194–229. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2022.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.