Owl-shaped Jar
Unknown Artist
206 BCE–9 CE
Medium
Amber-brown glazed low-fired pottery
Dimensions
19 × 11.7 × 13.6 cm · body: 14.8 × 11.7 × 13.6 cm
Classification
Ceramic
Department
Chinese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift
Accession Number
2020.178.1
About this artwork
Pottery vessels in the shape of owls were made since Neolithic times and throughout the Bronze age. These jars in the form of vigilant owls may have provided a tomb occupant with grain in the afterlife. However, the meaning of these mysterious birds and the association of the owl motif with burial sites in China is not fully understood.