pot with crosshatched medallions and looped handles

Yangshao culture, artist

pot with crosshatched medallions and looped handles, 2700 BCE–2300 BCE Neolitic period

Where object was made: China

Material/technique: earthenware; slip (rim is chipped)

Dimensions:
Object Height/Diameter (Height x Diameter): 12.5 x 15 cm
Object Height/Diameter (Height x Diameter): 4 15/16 x 5 7/8 in

Credit line: Gift of Jay Gates, Director, Spencer Museum of Art, 1984–1987

Accession number: 2012.0613

On display: Stewart Gallery

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Painted pottery of the Yangshao culture was a distinct regional achievement of Neolithic China. This refined pot was carefully coiled, smoothed, and painted with curvilinear, circular, and crosshatched patterns in black and maroon slip. The thin clay body, symmetrical shape, and even brushstrokes suggest that the potter used a slow wheel. Advanced tools, like the wheel, increased the quality and quantity of pottery production in late Neolithic China.