Description
This Chinese ewer, in perfect condition, was owned by one of Japan’s leading aristocratic clans, the Fujiwara, over a millennium ago. It was later excavated from an Uji tea field located on the site of the Fujiwara family burial temple, built in 1005. By that time, the importation of Chinese goods had slowed—Japan stopped sending envoys to Tang China in 894. This celadon ewer must have been a precious heirloom buried in the family tomb.
Data source
ColBase
"ColBase: Integrated Collections Database of the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan" is a service that enables a multi-database search of the collections in the four national museums (To...
Contents holder/Provider
Aggregator
National Institutes for Cultural Heritage
The National Institutes for Cultural Heritage (NICH) comprise four National Museums (Tokyo National Museum, Kyoto National Museum, Nara National Museum, and Kyushu National Museum) and two National Research Institutes for Cultural Properties (Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, and Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties), as well as the International Research Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region (IRCI) in Sakai City, for a total of seven institutions.
Last updated
September 14, 2026