Decorated Sue Jar

Sue ware is a charcoal-gray stoneware made by firing techniques transmitted from the Korean Peninsula in the Middle Kofun period. This jar was excavated from a horizontal stone chamber in Nishimiyayama Tumulus, a key-shaped burial mound. On its shoulder are four small jars interspersed with small clay figurines. One of these is lost; the remaining three depict people wrestling, a man hunting deer with his dogs, and people shouldering loads. The expression is primitive and not always easily discernible, but the artist’s intent to preserve scenes of life is clear. Many such examples of Sue ware with raised decoration are found along the coast of the Seto Inland Sea. This precious artifact evokes scenes of life in the Kofun period.