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Dragon-handled bowl
Dragon-handled bowl

Dragon-handled bowl

Place of OriginCentral Plains, China
DynastyEastern Han period (25-220)
MaterialsReddish low-fired ceramic with molded and grooved decoration and traces of red pigment
DimensionsH. 3 1/8 in x W. 10 7/16i n x Diam. 7 1/16 in, H. 8 cm x W. 26.5 cm x Diam. 18 cm
Credit LineThe Avery Brundage Collection
Object numberB61P6+
DepartmentChinese Art
ClassificationsCeramics
On View
Not on view
More Information
The shape of the kui was an innovation of the Han period. On Han pictorial bricks, kui appeared as food containers from which people ate. Potters adapted features such as the dragon-headed handles and flat-based bowls seen among earlier artifacts. From the late Western Han, kilns at Guangdong-Guangxi in the south manufactured single-handled ceramic bowls. Northern pottery kui with dragon-headed handles have been found in Henan (Inst. Arch. 1959 Shaogou: pl.15; KGXB 1965.1: 126, figs. 6-8), Hebei (WW 1990.1: 22, fig.8), and Shaanxi (WW 1987.6: 49, fig. 14; KGWW 1990.6: 50, fig. 3), all dated to the Eastern Han period.