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Chinese Tang dynasty (618 - 907) JAR, 8th century Earthenware with three-color glaze Height 12 1/4 inches Diameter 9 7/8 inches Museum purchase, 1964.36
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This jar has a narrow base of approximately four inches in diameter, which expands to about twelve inches across at its widest point. The lipped opening at the top is approximately as wide as the base. The surface of the vessel is smooth and glossy. The material of the jar itself is off-white, though the area around the opening is gold. The vessel is almost completely covered with diamond-shaped figures applied with a colorful glaze that is streaked downward, giving the decorations a smeared appearance. These figures follow a repeated pattern in which a large diamond shape of one color has a smaller diamond of another color inside it. In some cases, there is a spot of the first color within the second diamond. These diamond shapes are larger around the center of the jar than they are near the top and bottom. Around the center of the jar, the outer diamond is gold, the inner diamond is blue and the spot of color is gold. Near the top of the jar, the colors alternate from blue to gold and back to blue. Near the bottom of the jar, the outer diamond is blue, the inner diamond is gold and there is no spot in the center. Below the bottom row of diamond shapes, there is an undulating line of gold that encircles the jar.
