Pedstalled jar, with animals and spouts styled as small jars on the shoulder. Sue ware.

Collection NumberA001415
TitlePedstalled jar, with animals and spouts styled as small jars on the shoulder. Sue ware.
DateKofun period, 6th century.
Name of prefectures & citiesJapan
Place of excavationPresumably from at Kohata burial mound, Uji city, Kyoto prefecture.
Description of works【Animals and jar honor the dead together】
Sue ware (stoneware) is known for its functional simplicity. However, there are pieces such as this one which take very intricate decorative forms. Called soshoku sue ki (decorative sue ware), these vessels were made exclusively in the latter half of the Kofun (Tumulus) period up to about the first half of the seventh century CE, and were often used as funerary objects in tombs.
On this work’s shoulder are three small jars, with the figurines of a deer, a wild boar, and a dog in between. These animals can also be found placed around burial mounds in the form of haniwa (terracotta tomb figurines), suggesting that they were animals familiar to people in the Kofun period.

PageTop