Long-necked Jar

AD 200s-300s

Long-necked Jar, AD 200s-300s. Korea, Silla period (57 BC-AD 676). Gray pottery; overall: 26.8 cm (10 9/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of James Kitchen 1948.14 Pottery vessels with a footed stand, such as this one, are the earliest known high-fired ware produced in closed kilns built on hillsides. Its gray color is the result of the reduction of oxygen in the kiln chamber. Footed vessels were not practical enough for everyday use, but were used to present offerings to the deceased in highly elaborate ritual ceremonies. Closed kilns built on hillsides became widely used for producing this type of pottery vessel in Korea during the Three Kingdoms period.