Pan (basin)
Datecirca 3000 - 2800 B.C.E.
MediumUnglazed earthenware with slip-painted decoration
DimensionsOverall: 6 1/2 × 15 15/16 in. (16.5 × 40.5 cm)
Credit LinePurchase, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Gaylord Donnelley in honor of Professor Harrie A. Vanderstappen
Object number1990.2
Status
Not on viewFormed by brushing liquefied clay (called slip) over the unglazed surface of the vessel, the abstract patterning that covers the inside of this large bowl is characteristic of the elaborately painted pottery from the Majiayao phase of Neolithic China. Divided into three sections that grant a great sense of movement to the overall composition, such swirling motifs—whose meaning or purpose, if any beyond the simple desire for ornamental decoration, is unknown because there are no written records from the period—remained popular into the later part of the first millennium B.C.E.
circa 2500 - 2200 B.C.E.
circa 2500 - 2200 B.C.E.
circa 2500 - 2200 B.C.E.
circa 2500 - 2200 B.C.E.
circa 2500 - 2200 B.C.E.
circa 2500 - 2200 B.C.E.
circa 2500 - 2200 B.C.E.
circa 2500 - 2200 B.C.E.
circa 2500 - 2200 B.C.E.
circa 2500 - 2200 B.C.E.
circa 2500 - 2200 B.C.E.
circa 2500 - 2200 B.C.E.