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Water Jar

Culture
Chinese
Date
c.4000–3000 BCE
excavated in
Banpo, Shaanxi province, China, Asia
Classification
Ceramics, containers
Collection
Asian Art
Current Location
On View, Gallery 230
Dimensions
19 1/8 x 6 3/8 in. (48.6 x 16.2 cm)
diameter at lip: 3 3/8 in. (8.6 cm)
Credit Line
Funds given by Edith Spink in memory of her husband, C. C. Johnson Spink
Rights
Public Domain
Object Number
107:2002
NOTES
This jar’s elegantly curving outline begins at the rim and finishes at the pointed end. Its surface is decorated with a subtle pattern made by pressing twisted cord into the soft clay body before firing. The fine markings are set at diagonals, imparting an ascendant, swirling movement to the work. Water jars like this one were bound with cord and dropped into water, where they slowly turned upright as they filled.

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