VesselsChinese4th-3rd millennium BCE

Bottle

Majiayao phase, c. 3300-2650 BCE

Description

Small ovoid vessel with everted lip, cylindrical neck, sloping shoulders, lower body tapering inward to a small flat base, and two loop handles just below shoulders; buff earthenware lightly burnished and decorated with abstract designs painted in black slip before firing; painted designs on body, neck, and rim include eye-like dotted roundels surrounded by curvilinear triangles swirling and horizontal lines encircling the neck and lower body. and crossed lines encircling the vessel, each surrounded by curvilinear triangles, arcs, and lines. Majiayao culture, Majiayao type. From the upper Yellow River valley region; Gansu, Qinghai, or Ningxia province.

Classification

Vessels

Medium

Earthenware with slip-painted decoration

Culture

Chinese

Period

Neolithic period, Majiayao culture, c. 3300-2000 BCE

Century

4th-3rd millennium BCE

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Asian Art

Dimensions

H. 20.3 x W. (across handles)14.1 x Diam. 11.4 cm (8 x 5 9/16 x 4 1/2 in.)

Provenance

[Eskenazi, Ltd., London] sold; to [J.J. Lally & Co., New York, by March 2001] sold; to Walter C. Sedgwick Foundation, Woodside, CA (2001-2006), partial gift; to Harvard University Art Museums, 2006.