This Cizhou jar was made by Chinese artisans, likely during the Yuan dynasty, and was a marvel of technological innovation at the time of its creation. Cizhouware refers to ceramics made in a series of kilns in Northern China that, beginning in 925, produced high-quality and utilitarian pieces with decorative designs. The process for making this jar, for example, includes an overglaze and an underglaze, and incised and carved designs.
A jar like this would have belonged to wealthy — but not imperial —Chinese households and although it is decorative, it would have had a very practical purpose as an object for storage.
As it is very different from her typical collecting of Ming or Qing Dynasty ceramics, we don’t know what exactly drew Doris to this jar — it may be the object’s age, it may be its design, or it may be its story. Doris purchased it at the auction of the estate of Mrs. Seton Porter, formally Fredericka Berwind, in 1955.
