VesselsChinese3rd millennium BCE

Broad-shouldered jar

Machang phase, c. 2300-2000 BCE

Description

Ovoid jar with short neck, broad rounded shoulders, sides tapering inward to a small, flat base, and two strap lug handles positioned bilaterally below the shoulder; buff earthenware with geometric decoration painted in black and burgundy slips; decoration around the shoulders includes designs of stylized headless 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.

Classification

Vessels

Medium

Earthenware with bichrome slip-painted decoration

Culture

Chinese

Period

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

Century

3rd millennium BCE

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Asian Art

Dimensions

H. 41.2 x W. (across handles) 43.1 x Diam. 41.4 cm (16 1/4 x 16 15/16 x 16 5/16 in.)

Provenance

[J.J. Lally & Co., New York, 1999] sold; to Walter C. Sedgwick Foundation, Woodside, CA (1999-2006), partial gift; to Harvard University Art Museums, 2006.

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