VesselsChinese5th-4th millennium BCE

Gourd-shaped bottle

Shijia phase, c. 4000 BCE

Description

Elongated ovoid bottle with mouth and body suggesting the form of a double gourd, the rounded lower portion of the body tapering inward to a flat base; buff earthenware lightly burnished and decorated on the exterior with abstract zoomorphic designs painted in black slip before firing; encrustations from burial. Early middle Yangshao culture, Shijia type.

Classification

Vessels

Medium

Earthenware with slip-painted decoration

Culture

Chinese

Period

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

Century

5th-4th millennium BCE

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Asian Art

Dimensions

H. 30.5 x Diam. 15.8 cm (12 x 6 1/4 in.)

Provenance

[J.J. Lally & Co., New York, 2002] sold; to Walter C. Sedgwick Foundation, Woodside, CA (2002-2006), partial gift; to Harvard University Art Museums, 2006.

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