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Lot 216
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Han Dynasty Pottery Lidded Jar with Marine Encrustations
Han Dynasty Pottery Lidded Jar with Marine Encrustations
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East Asia, China, Han Dynasty, ca. 206 BCE – 220 CE. A compact globular jar of grey earthenware, its rounded shoulders tapering to a modest foot and crowned by a domed lid now fused to the rim by centuries of marine accretion. The body retains its original wheel-thrown profile beneath a crust of calcareous deposits, barnacle ghosts, and sand-grain inclusions, the pale crystalline encrustation banding the shoulder and pooling along the lower curve in a manner that speaks plainly of long submersion. Where the patina thins, the cool slate-grey fabric typical of Han kiln production emerges, unglazed and softly burnished by abrasion.

Lidded jars of this form, often called guan, served the Han household and tomb alike as containers for grain, wine, oils, and condiments, and were among the most ubiquitous ceramic goods of the dynasty. Many traveled the maritime trade routes that linked southern Chinese ports to Southeast Asia, and shipwreck cargoes from the period have yielded comparable vessels in similar states of preservation. The sealed lid, locked shut by mineral concretion, preserves whatever the jar last held, an unopened time capsule from the seabed that lends this otherwise utilitarian object the quiet drama of an artifact recovered rather than excavated. Size: 5.3" D x 5" H (13.5 cm D x 12.7 cm H).

Provenance: private Colorado, USA collection

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Item # 176309

  • Condition: Fair. Lid sealed to vessel due to encrustations. Missing one to three handles. Heavy weathering with nicks, chips, abrasions. Rich marine encrustations and root marks to surface.

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by Artemis Fine Arts
June 25, 2026 9:00 AM MDT
686 S. Taylor Avenue
Suite 108
Louisville, CO, US 80027

Artemis Fine Arts

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $299 $25
$300 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 $199,999 $10,000
$200,000 + $20,000