Chinese Ginger Jar

Ginger jars are steeped in centuries of Chinese culture and history. A ginger jar is always shaped with a wide mouth, a domed lid and a bulging, bulbous spherical hand painted body. They come in various styles, sizes and also many different colours. The true Chinese antique ginger jar is made of porcelain and hand painted.

Porcelain Chinese ginger jars were originally used to store food supplies like salt, herbs, oil and ginger (rare spices at that time), while other ginger jars were allocated to be used as gifts. The jars acquired the name “ginger jars” because they often contained ginger when they were exported to the West.

It is not known exactly in what century ginger jars originated but they'd gained popularity in the Qin Dynasty, 秦朝 (221 BC–207 BC), the first ruling dynasty of Imperial China.

In the 19th century, ginger jars became a fashionable product mass produced for export to the West where they were being used as a decorative element rather than functional. Some ginger jars in the 21st century have been converted into lamps and flower pots!

Many blue and white ginger jars are representative of the Yuan Dynasty, 元朝 (1271 – 1368). They come with the Chinese character double happiness suggesting that they were given as presents for special occasions such as weddings.

Pictures below show the ginger jars from my collection.

Ginger jar 1
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Ginger jar 1
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Ginger jar 1
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Ginger jar 2
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Ginger jar 2
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Ginger jar 2
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Ginger jar 2
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This picture shows the inside part of the "Ginger jar 2" with the age signs. Age signs give us an opportunity to determine whether a ceramic item is really antique or recently made. For example, the crackles and the glaze contractions show in this picture. The crackle lines may change to yellowish brown with age, which means the discolored crackles can be a sign of age. As for the glaze contractions, they are actually the small spots where a hole or recess appears on the surface of Chinese porcelain. The glaze either does not cover the clay body at all or shows a shallow recess (indent). They mainly appear on antique Chinese ceramics exceeding a certain age, and may be more frequent on porcelain of certain periods.