#earthware

We haven’t discussed ceramics yet, have we? Now’s the time!

This earthware jar is called a “knikpot” and is commonly found in the Low Countries during the early Frankish dynasty.

The name is as often times a description of the objects. It’s a jar with a very noticeable change of direction giving it almost a Rhombus or biconical shape (knik in Dutch).

This is one out of two varieties commonly found in the Low Countries. Fragments are found most, during excavations of houses, assembly halls or as ditch fillings. Being an earthware jar, they easily break or even degrade in soil. However complete jars are almost always found as grave goods containing food or sacrifices, or they are the gift themselves. This makes gravesites a welcome research opportunity for early medieval ceramics experts.

Strangely enough, ceramic workshops are an extremely rare find making it hard to differentiate styles, quality, production techniques, origins and age/use of ceramics.

This specific jar is beautifully decorated with intricate bands and a wave pattern. The rim bends slightly outwards.

Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden - The Netherlands

Museum nr. Rh060

Towered Pavilion, Eastern Han dynasty, 2nd-3rd century. 

Earthenware with green glaze,  w44.5 x h104.5 cm. 

In ancient China, rulers and upper-class people liked to bury with models and pottery figurines that imitated real life objects, hoping that they could enjoy life as they were alive after death. 

The pavilion in this work is in the form of a watchtower, with a total of four floors, which was the most advanced high-rise building at that time. In addition to the figures with bows and crossbows, the pavilions also show figures who look like musicians and serfs. At that time it was quite popular to use green glaze as a glaze for painted objects.

The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka ; Gift of Sumitomo Group (The Ataka Collection). 

“Men Have Lost Their Spirits”, Grayson Perry, circa 1988,