Neolithic Jar on Stand

This Neolithic jar originates from China 3500 BC and these funerary jars were placed in tombs and intended for use in the afterlife.

Northern China has a settled history that goes back more than 5,000 years. All along the western reaches of the Yellow River settlements sprung up and some of the first evidence we h...

This impressive (and heavy) polished stone resembles a scholar's mountain as depicted in Chinese traditional paintings. Though it has gr...

This water jar is from Thailand and was made from clay, c. 20th century. Wear consistent with age and use.   

This pot most likely came from what is now modern Kansu, the corridor west of the Yellow River and in the T'ao River Valley region of northwest China and east Mongolia. The Hsia Chia...

Giant water basins like this were kept in palace courtyards in case of fire.

East Asia, China, Neolithic Period, Majiayao culture, ca. 3300 to 2000 BCE. An impressive pottery jar of a voluminous form hand-painted with abstract linear and geometric designs. Ve...

A majestic large terracotta jar with impressed decorations to the mid to lower body, a slightly flaring neck with globular body. Impressed decoration also to the top of the neck belo...

The exceptional bronze casting, in stunningly intricate detail, on this beautiful sculptural piece has been attributed to master metalworker Ferdinand Barbedienne. The piece takes th...

Pair of glass candy jars from early 20th-century France. Mounted on curled iron stands and topped with charming, conical brass lids with egg-shaped fin...

Pair of 19th century French urns on marble stands bearing cherubs and rams heads. Each of these finely chased and bronze patinated urns or water pictures were previously mounted as table lamps and can easily be converted again. The solid black pedestal column...

A glazed stoneware jar with lid by American Ceramist Robert Chapman Turner (1913-2005) entitled "Ashanti". The vessel was made in 1974, purchased in 1978 and held in the same collection since. It was published in the artist's monograph as shown below. One of the classic forms with variations in Turner's repertoire since 1970s, the jar feature a slightly irregular form with numerous surface patching and markings under an overall black glaze with blue tint. The dome-shape lid has a cross-shaped handle with small markings. The form was inspired by Ashanti culture he observed during his trips to Africa. Incised signature "Turner" on the base. "In 1971–72, drawn by the power of African sculpture, and wishing to imbue his work with a greater sense of universality, Robert Turner traveled to Nigeria and Ghana. The trip proved transformational. In West Africa he was deeply moved by the way in which art was ingrained in daily experience, and by the beauty of traditional forms of architecture, pottery, ceremonial objects, and decoration. After his return, Turner began to produce series of distinctive vessel types named after African kingdoms and peoples—Ashanti, Ife, Oshogbo, Akan. The first is a squat, lidded pot; the others are cone and cylinder shapes." Smithsonian American Art Museum Robert Turner's work is in numerous museum collections including the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City. For this piece, see page 33 in "Robert Turner Shaping Silence A Life in Clay" by Marsha Miro and Tony Hepburn.