The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 18, 2025

Jar with Horn-Shaped Handles

200s–400s CE

Korea, Silla

(57 BCE–935 CE)
earthenware with incised decoration and color
Overall: 23.5 cm (9 1/4 in.); Diameter of mouth: 15.9 cm (6 1/4 in.); Diameter with handles: 16.5 cm (6 1/2 in.)
Seventy-fifth anniversary gift of George Gund 1991.137
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Closed kilns built on hillsides became widely used for producing this type of pottery vessel in Korea during the Three Kingdoms period.

Description

Pottery vessels, such as this one, were produced in sloping tunnel kilns that reached 1,000 to 1,200 degrees Celsius. This jar’s bulbous body with delicate horn-shaped handles suggests that it may have served to present offerings to the deceased. This type of high-fired terracotta vessel is usually excavated from tomb sites in the southwestern region of the Korean peninsula.
  • ?–1991
    (Joseph L. Brotherton [1918–2012], San Francisco, CA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    September 23, 1991–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Turner, Evan H. “The Year in Review for 1992.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 80, no. 2 (February 1993): 38–79. Mentioned: p. 79, no. 429 www.jstor.org
    Cunningham, Michael R., "Asian Autumn", Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 35 no. 08, October 1995 Mentioned & reproduced: p. 5 archive.org
    Pottery from Ancient Korea: Clay Art for Life and Death [한국고대의토기 : 흙・예술・삶과 죽음]. Seoul: National Museum of Korea, 1997.
    Golden Splendors: the Royal Tomb of Silla Hwangnamdaechong [황남 대총: 황금 의 나라 신라 의 왕릉]. Seoul: National Museum of Korea, 2010.
    Lee, So-young, and Denise Patry Leidy. Silla: Korea's Golden Kingdom. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2013.
    Kim, Se-ki. "Features of Seongju Area through Ancient Tombs in the Three Kingdom Period [고분자료로 본 삼국시대 성주지역의 정치적 성격]." The Journal of the Research Institute for Silla Culture vol. 43, 2 (2014): 1-27. www.dbpia.co.kr
    Kim, Yun-jeong and 8 others. Hangung doja sajeon [한국 도자 사전]. Seoul: Gyeongin munhwasa, 2015.
    Nelson, Sarah. Gyeongju: The Capital of Golden Silla. Routledge, 2019.
    Ch'a, Mi-rae, Kwi-suk An, Cleveland Museum of Art, and 국외소재문화재재단. The Korean Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Edited by An Min-hŭi. First edition, English ed. Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Series, 16. Seoul, Republic of Korea: Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation, 2021. Mentioned and Reproduced: P. 40
  • Interpretation of Materiality: Gold. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 29-October 24, 2021).
    The Other Side of the Story - Korean Gallery 236 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (October 27, 2020-April 25, 2021).
    Asian Autumn: Early Ceramics from Japan and Korea. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 19-December 3, 1995).
    Signs of Affection: Gifts Honoring the Museum's 75th Anniversary. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 27, 1992-January 3, 1993).
  • {{cite web|title=Jar with Horn-Shaped Handles|url=false|author=|year=200s–400s CE|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1991.137