Vase fanghu 方壺

Anonyme

This type of vase is sometimes called a square covered hu (gaifanghu) but they are most often known by the term fanghu. Many of them have kept their delicate polychrome. Numerous excavations have made it possible to identify where they were used and their probable site of production. The dark colour of the earthenware indicates a northern provenance, in Henan and Shaanxi.
Painted fanghu are particularly numerous in Western collections. One of the earliest known in France was part of the famous Jean Sauphar collection. There are two main types. The pair donated to the museum in 1995 are squat in shape and similar in their proportions to metal versions.
The painted designs, more or less refined and inventive, as here in the trompe l’oeil ring handles, sometimes suggest incrustations of precious metal, as in the famous hu found in the tomb of Liu Sheng, in Mancheng (Hebei), or feature the delicate motifs adorning lacquerware from southern China, as in those found in Tomb No. 1 at Mawangdui, near Changsha. Painted terracotta, much more economical than luxury materials, was no doubt preferred by many families who wished to honour their dead in a dignified but not over-extravagant manner.