Harvard Art Museums > 2006.170.3: Wide mouthed jar Vessels Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Wide mouthed jar , 2006.170.3,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Dec 25, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/93622. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Gallery Text Before the advent of metallurgy, numerous Neolithic cultures — which relied primarily upon stone tools, farming, domesticated animals, and pottery making — were scattered throughout vast regions of China. The cultures that produced the most remarkable earthenware (ceramics fired up to about 1000° C) tended to inhabit areas along China’s major rivers, and by the late Neolithic period (c. 5000–c. 2000 BCE), two notable ceramic types distinguished themselves from coarser utilitarian pottery — painted earthenware from settlements along the upper and middle reaches of the Yellow River, and black pottery from cultures near the lower Yellow and Yangzi River valleys. Painted ceramics were hand-built, made of fine reddish or buff clays, and embellished with dark slip (liquid clay) to create vibrant, mostly abstract designs. Black pottery vessels were wheel-thrown, sometimes to the thinness of an eggshell, blackened during the firing process, and burnished to a high gloss. These delicate objects were impractical for daily use and were likely used for ceremonial purposes. Several Neolithic cultures also fashioned beautiful jades or hard stones — usually nephrite, an extremely hard mineral native to China — into ceremonial tools and weapons, ritual objects, or items of personal adornment. These jades were sliced, shaped, perforated, incised, and polished using non-metallic tools and abrasive crystals of even greater hardness than the jade itself, a painstakingly labor-intensive process that only the privileged could afford. Identification and Creation Object Number 2006.170.3 Title Wide mouthed jar Other Titles Original Language Title: 仰韶文化半坡類型 陶小罐 Classification Vessels Work Type vessel Date Banpo phase, c. 5000-4000 BCE Places Creation Place: East Asia, China, Shaanxi province Period Neolithic period, Yangshao culture, c. 5000-3000 BCE Culture Chinese Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/93622 Location Location Level 1, Room 1740, Early Chinese Art, Arts of Ancient China from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age View this object's location on our interactive map Physical Descriptions Medium Earthenware with impressed decoration Dimensions H. 14.2 x Diam. 22 cm (5 9/16 x 8 11/16 in.) Provenance Recorded Ownership History [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. Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Partial gift of the Walter C. Sedgwick Foundation and partial purchase through the Ernest B. and Helen Pratt Dane Fund for Asian Art Accession Year 2006 Object Number 2006.170.3 Division Asian and Mediterranean Art Contact am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Descriptions 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. Commentary Compare to: Jar with similar shape and textured surface excavated in 1972 from a Banpo site in Jiangzhai, Lintong county, Shaanxi province, now in the Banpo Museum, Xi’an. See Kaogu 3 (1973): 143, fig. 16.14, and pl. 4.1 (right). Publication History Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Spring 2003, auct. cat., The Chinese Porcelain Company (New York, NY, 2003), no. 1, pp. 8-9 Exhibition History 32Q: 1740 Early China I, Harvard Art Museums, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050 Subjects and Contexts Sedgwick Collection Verification Level This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
