See also Techniques Tour Notes – Chinese Earthenware

Unknown
Chinese, Neolithic Majiayao culture, Banshan phase

Funerary Storage Jar (Neo Jar), 27th c. BCE - 24th
buff earthenware painted with black and red pigments
14 x 14 1/2 in.

SBMA, Gift of Carroll and Susanne Barrymore
1990.50.1

SBMA CURATORIAL LABELS

This jar exemplifies the distinctive painted pottery found in the Majiayao Neolithic culture at Banshan in Gansu province, in the Upper Yellow River valley in North China. The jar was hand coiled and then paddled for strength into thin walls. The spontaneous and rhythmic painted patterns show remarkable sophistication in the use of the brush (which later became the primary tool of writing and artistic expression for the Chinese. Painted pottery of this type is usually found in burial sites, suggesting possible ritualistic functions. The significance of the designs is now lost to us.

- Asian Gallery, 2012