Chinese decorated ovoid pot

Chinese decorated ovoid pot
ITEM: Decorated ovoid pot
MATERIAL: Pottery
CULTURE: Chinese, Neolithic
PERIOD: Majiayao, Machang period, 2300 - 1800 B.C
DIMENSIONS: 355 mm x 290 mm x 255 mm
CONDITION: Good condition
PROVENANCE: Ex English private collection, acquired between 1980 – 2000, previous from Hong Kong art market

Comes with Certificate of Authenticity and Export Licence. If you are from outside the European Union, we will have to apply for the export licence again for your country, this takes 3 to 5 weeks and has a cost of 5% of the hammer price, this amount will be added to the final invoice.

Majiayao phase (3300–2500 BC) sites are mostly found on terraces along: the upper Wei River valley; upper Bailong River valley; middle and lower Tao River and Daxia River valleys; upper Yellow River valley; the Huangshui River; and lower Datong River.

The most distinctive artifacts of the Majiayao culture are the painted pottery. During the Majiayao phase, potters decorated their wares with designs in black pigment featuring sweeping parallel lines and dots. Pottery of the Banshan phase is distinguished by curvilinear designs using both black and red paints. Machang-phase pottery is similar, but often not as carefully finished. Its development is associated with interaction between hunter-gatherers in the Qinghai region and the westward expansion of agricultural Yangshao people.

In contrast to plain pottery, the Majiayao painted pottery was produced at large, centralised workshops. The largest Neolithic workshop found in China is at Baidaogouping, Gansu. The manufacture of large amounts of painted pottery means there were professional craftspeople to produce it, which is taken to indicate increasing social complexity. Control over the production process and quality declined by the Banshan phase, potentially due to greater demand for pottery to use in funeral rituals, similar to what Hung Ling-yu calls the “modern Wal-Mart syndrome”.

Measurement:	29 x 35.5 cm
Depth:	25.5 cm