Prehistoric Pottery from Northwest China
Storage Jar with Painted Bichrome Decor and Burnished Surface, Chinese, Neolithic period, Majiayao culture, Banshan phase, 2650–2300 BCE. From Gansu, Qinghai, or Ningxia province. Earthenware. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Gift of Mrs. John Dane, 1941. Photo: © President and Fellows of Harvard College, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, PM# 41-61-60/7161 (99320164).
Ancient pottery vessels are not only works of art but also representations of technical achievement, products of economic value, and windows into ancient history and society. This installation showcases approximately 60 excellent, yet rarely seen prehistoric Chinese ceramics from the collections of the Harvard Art Museums and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology.
This installation complements a course taught by Rowan Flad, the John E. Hudson Professor of Archaeology at Harvard University, and has been organized with Ling-yu Hung, the An Wang Postdoctoral Fellow at the Harvard Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies and assistant professor of anthropology at Indiana University in Bloomington.
The installation is made possible in part by funding from the Gurel Student Exhibition Fund and the José Soriano Fund at the Harvard Art Museums, as well as support from the Harvard Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies.
The University Study Gallery supports the coursework of numerous Harvard departments and schools. It is a gallery classroom dedicated to the installation of original works of art that serve as primary source materials for interdisciplinary study.
Related Programming
Information about gallery talks related to Prehistoric Pottery from Northwest China can be found in our calendar. Additionally, the Society for East Asian Archaeology (SEAA) hold their seventh worldwide conference in Cambridge and Boston (at Harvard and Boston Universities) on June 8 to 12, 2016, organized by Rowan Flad of Harvard University and Robert Murowchick of Boston University: seaa-web.org/conf16-pre.htm
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Ling-yu Hung, the An Wang Postdoctoral Fellow at the Harvard Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies and assistant professor of anthropology at Indiana University in Bloomington, shared insights about the current exhibition Prehistoric Pottery from Northwest China.
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Prehistoric Pottery from Northwest China
Ancient pottery vessels are not only works of art but also representations of technical achievement, products of economic value, and windows into understanding ancient history and society. This digital tool was created in conjunction with an installation of approximately 60 excellent, yet rarely seen prehistoric Chinese ceramics from the collections of the Harvard Art Museums and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology.