A LARGE NEOLITHIC PAINTED POTTERY JAR

Details

A LARGE NEOLITHIC PAINTED POTTERY JAR
MAJIAYAO YANGSHAO CULTURE, MACHANG PHASE, CIRCA 2300-2000 B.C.

Well-potted and painted on the bulbous upper body with black sweeping lines enclosing four circular medallions formed by dark red and black borders encircling three cross-hatched roundels separated by solid black dots, all above a wavy border interrupted by a pair of lug handles applied where the body begins to taper to the flat base, with V-shaped motifs painted on the short waisted neck and a band of swags on the interior of the flared mouth below a solid dark red border
15½in. (39.4cm.) high

Lot Essay

A very similar jar is illustrated in Qinghai Liuwan (Excavation of a Primitive Society Cemetary at Liuwan in Qinghai), vol. II, Wenwu Press, Beijing, 1984, pl. 133, fig. 2. Compare, also, the similar jar in the Collection of Judith Ogden Bullitt illustrated by Suzanne Valenstein, A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1989 ed., p. 7, no. 6