Jar for Ashes

The jar is of spherical form supported on a splayed foot and surmounted by a high flared neck. Two thin scrolled coils are applied opposite each other at the midsection pressed with enough force to make a slight indentation. Two stamped rows of scalloped borders and cicada-like motifs with heart-shaped bodies enclosing multi dot bands encircle the body. A series of zig-zag, crescent and line border are stamped and carved above the foot. The neck is stamped with trailing trefoil motifs above radiating lines of multi-dots on the shoulder.

Some of the stamped jars that have been found in tombs were used as urns, in accordance with the Buddhist preference for cremation. Buddhism had become the official religion of the Silla period in 528.

Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.

Alice Boney, New York, [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Unknown family, upstate New York, by purchase, ca. 1950 - 1959; Kaikodo Asian Art Gallery, New York, NY; Carol Conover, Kaikodo, NY, 1997, by purchase; Friends of the Asian Collection, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1999, by gift.