Jar

Object Details

Label

Beginning at least by 3000 B.C.E., metal became the most prestigious material for many objects made in Iran, including ceramic containers for serving food. A source of inspiration in metalwork can sometimes be deduced from distinctive features preserved in the clay versions. Sharply angled shapes, as in this example, seem alien to the traditional ceramic repertoire and suggest an origin in metalwork. Other signs of metal prototypes are the colors of ceramic vessels, reflecting the manipulation of firing conditions to produce red, brown, gray, and black wares. Gray wares, like this vessel, most likely represent an attempt to mimic the color and gleaming surface of silver.

Provenance

?-2005

Mr. and Mrs. Osborne (1914-2004) and Gratia Hauge (d. 2000) [1]

From 2005

The National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, by gift of Osborne and Gratia Hauge, and Victor and Takako Hauge [2]

Notes:

[1] The Hauge family began collecting Asian paintings, sculpture, and ceramics in the late 1940s and would amass a large collection in the post-World War II years.

[2] Ownership of collected objects sometimes changed between members of the Hauge families. See Deed of Gift, dated October 16, 2005, copy in object file. From 2005-2023 the work was part of the National Museum of Asian Art’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection and on March 21, 2023, the work was internally transferred to the National Museum of Asian Art Collection.

Collection

National Museum of Asian Art Collection

Exhibition History

Asian Traditions in Clay: The Hauge Gifts (October 29, 2000 to April 22, 2001)

Previous custodian or owner

Mr. and Mrs. Osborne and Gratia Hauge

Data Source

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

Date

ca. 2400-1400 BCE

Period

Late Bronze Age

Credit Line

Gift of Osborne and Gratia Hauge

Medium

Earthenware and paint

Dimensions

H x W x D: 20.4 x 20.5 x 20.5 cm (8 1/16 x 8 1/16 x 8 1/16 in)

Type

Vessel