Artist unknown
“Tall decorated jars” ca. 1200 CE (Song Dynasty)
Pottery from Jiangxi Province, China
Gift of Charles L. Reese, 1979
Location: Penn Museum, 3260 South St., upper level
Jan. 29 marks the Lunar New Year and the advent of the Year of the Snake. This year is the latest iteration of a cosmological calendar that has been around for more than 2,000 years, says Adam Smith, associate curator and keeper of Penn Museum’s Asian section.
Smith says that, while the earliest depictions of snakes date back more than 4,000 years, Penn Museum visitors can see a more recent example dating to 1200 CE as part of a student exhibition, “Looking to the Stars, Listening to the Earth,” which showcases 19 objects and celestial figurines from a Song Dynasty tomb.
A snake is among various figures applied to a pair of ceramic jars with celadon glaze, its curved, wriggling body wrapping around the middle, ridged portion of the jar along with a dragon and turtle. About 2.5 feet tall, the jars were thrown on a wheel before the artist applied animals and 12 human-like deities, which correlate with the 12 zodiac years, times of day, terrestrial and celestial directions, and other aspects of cosmology, Smith says. The jars were buried in a tomb along with larger versions of the 12 figures, arranged according to the principles of feng shui, he says.
Scholars in the Song Dynasty had a scientific understanding of the mathematical regularity of the skies, with a calendar that reflected a deep awareness of complexity, Smith says. “The calendar is tracking celestial events. That’s what inspired all this.”
