A Chinese Green Glazed Hill Jar with Cover, Western Han Dynasty, ca. 206 BCE – 9 CE

This fine green-glazed ceramic hill jar is a Han dynasty funerary vessel, created to symbolically safeguard the deceased's journey into the afterlife. These jars were primarily used to hold fragrant substances for burning rather than for storing everyday items, and are often found in tombs. Serving as ceramic incense burners, they symbolized a journey to the Daoist paradise and were typically filled with aromatic materials such as foreign incense and orchids.

The conical lid, cast in the form of a stylized sacred mountain (Boshan), likely represents Mount Bo or Mount Kunlun, both sacred Daoist mountains associated with immortality and the paradisiacal realms of the xian (immortals).  The Animals of the Four Directions (sishen) that provide celestial navigation are strategically placed in the undulating peaks of the mountain. The sculpted ridges and whorls evoke mist, wind, and the layered terrain of the sacred landscape.  When incense was burned in the vessel, smoke rose through the lid’s crevices, reinforcing the metaphor of clouds drifting over a mystical summit.

The jar's cylindrical body is encircled by a continuous low-relief frieze depicting the Animals of the Four Directions (sishen) in a stylized landscape of rolling hills and swirling clouds. These directional animals were not only cosmic guardians but also linked to time, seasonality, and the cardinal axes of the universe. Their dynamic arrangement across the surface reflects both movement and balance, serving as a cosmographic map for the soul’s orientation and passage.  The three legs of the vessel are formed by auspicious bears, which were popular in Han dynasty art.  As guardians, they would have protected the vessel and its contents.

The overall composition suggests a narrative of movement and protection, central to Han religious cosmology and often associated with elite tomb furnishings.

Medium: Glazed Earthenware

Dimensions: Height: 10 1/4 inches (26 cm.)

Condition: The vessel is coated in a glossy green lead glaze, which has developed areas of iridescence and mottling from burial. Scattered kiln scars, iron-rich encrustations, and minor surface losses are present, consistent with age and type.

Provenance: Private Connecticut collection, acquired more than 20 years ago. 

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