Page 142 - Chinese and Asian Ceramics from an Indonesian Collection

Chapter 6. Glazed and Unglazed Storage Vessels in the Musi River

Figure 268. Jar, top only, decorated with impressed and carved
dragon with face towards lug, upper rim diameter
12 cm, Cham, Binh Dinh Province, Go Sanh kilns,
C14–C15, from the Musi River, Pusri site. Catalogue
No. K1790.

Figure 267. Jar, height 23.8 cm, North Vietnam or China,
C16–C17, from the Musi River, Pusri site. Catalogue
No. K1779.

although Strober (2017) feels that Go-Sanh kilns
continued to produce storage jars for a further several
centuries. However, Cort (2008a in Nyiri 2016) stated that
there was no direct evidence supporting the production
of dragon jars in Vietnam before the 17th century, which
was coincident with the settlement in South Vietnam
of Ming Dynasty refugees from Guangdong and Fujian
Provinces. Despite the lack of direct evidence, it seems
unlikely that the skilled Cham potters did not also
produce elegant storage jars during the 14th and 15th
centuries.
Several Dragon jars (K1790, K2661) from the Musi
were probably made at Go-Sanh kilns in Central Vietnam
(Figure 268 & Figure 269). Other red bodied jars from
Central Vietnam or China included: a moderately tall
(40 cm high) thinly potted and hard-fired jar with strong
incised lines encircling the entire body (Figure 270); a
small (21 cm high), squat jar with four lugs (Figure 271); Figure 269. Jar, base slightly concave, tradition 2 type jar with
moulded and incised whiskered, three toed dragon,
a moderately tall (26 cm high) jar with broader shoulders height 29.8 cm, South China, Guangdong Province
and moderately tall neck and no lugs (K2615) and a or Central Vietnam, Go-Sanh kilns, C15–C16,
moderately tall jar (Figure 272). from the Musi River, Batu Ampar site. Catalogue
As noted above a number of other storage jars may have No. K2661.
been produced in Central Thailand, Central Vietnam or
south China. These include K1829 (Figure 273).

Burma
The term ‘martaban’ derives from the name of a major
trading port along the Gyaing River in Lower Burma

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