Low fired earthenware jar

[sillyman]

Hello to you all,

Can anyone help me with informatiom on this jar? Is it Chinese? What does it say? Does it have a specific use? Any idea of age and were it was made? H 15cm Dia 12.5 cm Thanks very much sillyman.

[studentyoung]

Dear Sir,

Is it Chinese?

I just can say it looks like a Chinese one, for there is a Chinese character on it and it has a typical Chinese jar style.

What does it say?

Usually, we call it “坛子 tan2 zi ”.

Does it have a specific use?

No, it doesn’t. We usually use it to store tea, all kinds of snack food, little pieces of pickles, wines or even pills.

Any idea of age and were it was made?

According to your picture, the glaze on the pottery looks quite new, so I roughly guess it is newly made. But I am sorry that I don’t know where it is made.

For more on pottery, please check this link:

http://www.guggenheim.org/exhibitions/past_exhibitions/china/ceramics/

Thanks!

[skylee]

What does it say?

The character should be 福, meaning good luck/fortune. But a stroke (the dot at the middle) is missing. It could be an artistic design or a mistake.

[sillyman]

Thank you very much. I do not think it is old. It is not glazed, it is burnished and low fired. I was surprised to find that domestic pottery is still made this way in modern China. I like its simplisity. Thanks Tim.

[tian]

Although it is not exactly written correctly, but the Chinese character on the low temperature fired earthware jar is 福, which means "good fortune" and "happiness".

http://zhongwen.com/d/186/x214.htm

[sillyman]

Are Chinese characters fixed as one would think, or are they open to interpretation rather like artistic license so long as the reader can get the message unlike western alphabets. Tim