Granary urn with cover
Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD)
Earthenware, red slip, lead alkaline glaze

This was a perod of unification and expansion of the Chinese empire; art flourished, there was much wealth, magnificent palaces and equally magnificent tombs. Models of buildings and other objects were placed in the tombs, along with figurines of animals such as horses (highly prized), pigs, dogs and oxen.

Here is another glaze a modern potter would not spurn. Lead glazes were developed in China even before the Han Dynasty — lead, which acts as a flux to fuse the glaze onto the body, was readily available. The green tinge in the granary urn comes from copper oxide added to the glaze as well.