Artwork Page for Watchtower

Details / Information for Watchtower

Watchtower

25–220 CE

China, Eastern Han dynasty

(25–220 CE)
Medium
earthenware with lead glaze
Measurements
Diameter: 39 cm (15 3/8 in.); Overall: 54.3 cm (21 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
The Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 1989.71
Public Domain
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Location
241B Arts of Ancient China
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Description

In this funerary sculpture of the watchtower is a lively retinue of hunters, musicians, dancers, and domestic animals. The representation provides a vivid picture of the worldly enjoyment to be perpetuated in the otherworldly realm of the afterlife. A low-temperature lead glaze is applied to its earthenware body, enhancing the modeled forms with a brilliant, smooth coating like a layer of opaque glass.
A green-glazed earthenware sculpture depicts a multi-tiered tower rising from a wide, shallow bowl. Small figures stand on a balcony with geometric railings, some extending their arms outward, sheltered by a ribbed roof. Below, birds and four-legged animals perch along the rim of the bowl. The glossy dark green surface features tan accents on the central column and architectural structures, integrating the pavilion scene into the ceramic vessel.

Watchtower

25–220 CE

China, Eastern Han dynasty (25–220 CE)

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