Chinese Flattened Jar in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, September 2010

Title/Object Name: Flattened Jar (Bianhu)

Culture: China

Period: Six Dynasties–late Northern Dynasties

Date: Northern Qi period (550–577)

Medium: Earthenware with low-relief decoration under olive-green glaze

Dimensions: H. 4 3/4 in. (12.1 cm)

Classification: Ceramic

Credit Line: Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. William P. Frankenhoff and Mrs. Richard E. Linburn Gifts, 2001

Accession Number: 2001.629

Description:

Both the shape and decoration show foreign influence: the shape is based on a West Asian pilgrim’s flask, while the whirling dancer is performing a dance derived from the culture of Sogdia. Centered in present-day Uzbekistan, merchants from this polity, some of whom lived in China, dominated the Silk Road trade from the fourth to the seventh century.


Text from: www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/6003...