Majang ware urn

Object Details

• Description

  Urn, with globular body, tall neck with everted mouth, and flat base. One strap handle, overlaid with a narrower strip of clay, longitudinally oriented, at the juncture of neck and shoulder; two-thirds down the urn on the other side is one small projection in the form of a vestigal handle, latitudinally oriented.

  Clay: buff earthenware; surface has many scratch marks and small holes.

  Glaze: none.

  Decoration: geometric design painted in black and dark reddish brown. The main zone, which occupies the upper three-quarters of the exterior, is defined by two horizontal bands, one running around the shoulder and the other one-quarter of the way around the base. The decoration of this zone consists of four large circles with identical decoration, separated by a supplementary motif of one pair of bifurcated curved lines at the bottom. The circles are filled with a design which consists of a cross whose four arms are traversed by six trellised bands; the spaces left within each circle are filled with four [drawing]-shaped motifs. Around the neck are two rows of tapering vertical lines. Around the interior of the neck are three rows of the saw-tooth motif, each of which increases in height.

• Origin

  Gansu province, China

• Credit Line

  Gift of Mrs. Anna C. Chennault

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  BCE 2000s, BCE 1000s

• Place

  Gansu province, China

• Topic

  Art, Chinese Art, Neolithic period (ca. 7000 - ca. 1700 BCE), Pottery, Gansu ware

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)