Urn or Jar

A large portion of Sue ware production was devoted to tableware regulated by centralized administrative standards. Potters abandoned the curving forms of the Kofun period (ca. 300–710) in favor of rectilinear profiles inspired by contemporary Chinese metalwork of the Tang dynasty (618–907). This jar, once fitted with a rectangular lid, exemplifies the storage vessels among these “state ceramics.” Its form derives not only from Tang prototypes but also from those of Korea’s Baekje Kingdom (18 BCE–CE 660) that were widely distributed during Japan’s adoption of cremation burial customs. Some jars of this type also served as containers for medicines. The glossy surface finish suggests that the vessel was created at the Sanage kilns, where from the mid-eighth century potters began positioning select wares in kiln “hot spots” to encourage natural ash glazing