VesselsChinese5th millennium BCE

Wide mouthed jar

Banpo phase, c. 5000-4000 BCE

Description

Compressed ovoid vessel with wide mouth, thickened lip, and body curving inward to a flat base; red earthenware textured extensively below the plain lip with abstract patterns created by impressing the clay surface repeatedly with an implement before firing; remains of earth from burial encrusted over the entirety of the vessel. Early Yangshao culture, Banpo type. From the middle Yellow River valley region, Shaanxi province.

Classification

Vessels

Medium

Earthenware with impressed decoration

Culture

Chinese

Period

Neolithic period, Yangshao culture, c. 5000-3000 BCE

Century

5th millennium BCE

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Asian Art

Dimensions

H. 14.2 x Diam. 22 cm (5 9/16 x 8 11/16 in.)

Provenance

[The Chinese Porcelain Company, New York, 2003] sold; to Walter C. Sedgwick Foundation, Woodside, CA (2003-2006), partial gift; to Harvard University Art Museums, 2006.

Related Artworks

Vessels

Stem Cup with Hollow Stem and Geometric Decor

Unknown Artist, c. 4300-2600 BCE

Black 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 BCEChinese