Tomb vessel with lid ("hill jar")

This lidded vessel is one of two closely related Eastern Han dynasty tomb jars that Freer exhibited on what is now the east wall of the Peacock Room, adjacent to one of the gilded peacock shutters. In China, this jar would have been filled with a funeral offering, but Freer was more interested in its aesthetic qualities - its light green glaze with a silvery iridescence that harmonized not only with other ceramics, but with his collection of American tonalist paintings as well.