Machang phase, c. 2300 2000 BCE
Ovoid jar with short, cylindrical neck, broad shoulders, sides tapering inward to a small, flat base, and two strap lug handles positioned bilaterally below the shoulder; buff earthenware lightly burnished and decorated with geometric designs painted in black and burgundy slips before firing; painted decoration around the shoulders includes designs of stylized anthropomorphic figures alternating with round cartouches of crosshatched patterns. Majiayao culture, Machang type. From the upper Yellow River valley region; Gansu, Qinghai, or Ningxia province.
H. 38.8 x W. (across handles) 41.5 x Diam. 37 cm (15 1/4 x 16 5/16 x 14 9/16 in.)
[Ralph M. Chait Galleries, New York, December 2000] sold; to Walter C. Sedgwick Foundation, Woodside, CA (2000-2006), partial gift; to Harvard University Art Museums, 2006.
Earthenware
5th-3rd millennium BCEChineseBlack earthenware
3rd millennium BCEChineseEarthenware with slip-painted decoration
3rd millennium BCEChineseEarthenware
3rd millennium BCEChineseBuff earthenware with decoration painted in black and burgundy slips, the surface burnished before firing. Upper Yellow River Valley area; Gansu, Qinghai, or Ningxia province.
3rd millennium BCEChineseEarthenware with bichrome slip-painted decoration
3rd-2nd millennium BCEChineseEarthenware with impressed decoration
3rd millennium BCEChineseEarthenware with slip-painted decoration
4th-3rd millennium BCEChineseBlack earthenware
3rd millennium BCEChineseEarthenware with slip-painted decoration
4th-3rd millennium BCEChineseBlack earthenware with incised and openwork decoration, the surface burnished before firing. Middle and Lower Yellow River area; Shandong and Jiangsu provinces; possibly from Shandong province.
5th-3rd millennium BCEChineseEarthenware with applique and impressed decoration
3rd millennium BCEChinese