A BROWN-GLAZED STONEWARE JAR WITH A HUMAN FACE, ANGKOR PERIOD
Khmer, mid-12th century. The globular body supported on a thick foot, the shoulder set with a short spout as well as a handle in the form of a snake. The base of the neck molded in the form of a human face with almond-shaped eyes, thick brows, a thin straight nose, flanked by elongated earlobes. The slightly waisted neck surmounted by a small cover with a knop finial, covered overall in a dark olive-brown glaze.


Provenance:
From a noted Danish private collection.

Condition:
Good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, signs of weathering and erosion, glaze flaking and recesses, encrustations, chips, scratches. Minor old repairs, the spout has been reattached. Fine, naturally grown patina overall. The small cover with the knop finial is almost always lost, but still present here!

Weight: 2,620 g
Dimensions: Height 35.5 cm


Toward the end of the 6th or early 7th century
, Khmer potters instituted an important technique for mass production of ceramics when they began to use the wheel. A Khmer inscription dating to 674 compares the source of creation to the potter’s wheel. Ceramics of this period were sometimes decorated with slip and paint, but this practice was abandoned after 800 when glazed stoneware first appeared. The first glazed ceramics made in Southeast Asia beyond the orbit of Chinese control were associated with the Khmer rulers Indravarman and Yasovarman, who reigned from the 880s to 940.


During the 11th century,
zoomorphic shapes, such as the human face on the present lot, begin to appear and the clay becomes finer, with a gray body. Other decorative techniques, such as moldings, incisions and carved patterns appear after 1100 on zoomorphic vessels. Gourd-shaped jars and bottles also began to appear during this time, with brown glazes becoming predominant.


Literature comparison:

Compare a closely related gourd-shaped bottle with a similar human face, 29.5 cm high, dated to the mid-12th century, published by Bernard Groslier, Introduction to the Ceramic Wares of Angkor, 1981, fig. 47. A similar example was found at the Srah Srang burial site about 4 km southeast of the East Gate of Angkor Thom. These deposits date to the reign of Jayarvarman VI (1080-1107). The find spot may indicate that this form was used for funerary rituals (see ibid., p. 29). Compare a related gourd-shaped bottle decorated with a human face, 12 cm high, dated 11th-13th century, in the National University of Singapore Museum, museum number S2003-0001-024-0.