The jar stands firm on a flat base, ballooning to its broad midsection with shoulders curving to the straight short neck that terminates in a thickened mouth rim surrounding the cavernous interior. The light grey stoneware, potted with some delicacy given the size of the piece, is decorated in the most subtle manner with three concentric rows of rouletted patterns circling high on the shoulder. A waffle pattern occupies the central row bordered above and below by bands of tiny circlets. Two pairs of small, striated strap handles are applied opposite each other high on the jar’s shoulder. The thin olive-toned glaze of irregular color with spit-outs, dark iron specks and further blemishes exhibits a soft sheen and covers the vessel stopping well short of the base, the flat base and the interior splashed randomly with glaze, the surface of the grey stoneware body burning a deep reddish brown in unglazed areas.
We never tire of telling the Yue story nor are we ever free from being seduced by examples of this miraculous ware. This time around it was a jar of relatively standard shape and decoration but also quite large and impressive not only in size but in its strength through austerity. The attractiveness of these wares, even as they often exhibit complexities of shape and décor, still owe something to their lack of pretension. Their evolution during the Six Dynasties period in Northern Zhejiang in the Yuezhou area was steady and stunning. Serving domestic, burial and export needs, the variety of shapes and development of decorative modes, incorporating influence from precedent bronze and contemporaneous Buddhist art, is impressive as was their influence and impact on ceramic production outside of the central zone. The ceramic artists responsible for these developments responded with brilliance to the opportunities presented by the shift in political, cultural and economic energies to the south where they worked their special magic.
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