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OBJECT UNDER SPOTLIGHT

We regularly feature a Chinese Work of Art that exhibits singularly outstanding historical and aesthetic characteristics and qualities. This month we have selected a PAINTED EARTHENWARE JAR AND COVER, Majiayao culture, Banshan type Neolithic Period, Mid 3rd Millennium BCE Height: 6 7/16 inches (16.4 cm.)

Head off body Click to enlarge Back view Click to enlarge

Boldly decorated, the full, jug-shaped body, of this human-headed jar, is accentuated by curvilinear painted abstract swirling patterns, trimmed with fringe-like striations. The dynamic motif spirals into s-curls, culminating in four roundels evenly spaced around the walls with a scalloped border at the bottom of the design near the flattened base. The patterns are executed in simple, yet bold dark brick- red and black paint. The low, globular shoulders rise and taper towards the neck surmounted by a rounded human-headed lid. A zigzag seam cuts right into the painted ceramic, creating a separate cover out of the head and neck. The head, minimally modeled, with facial features, such as eyes, nostrils, mouth, and ears, conveyed by pierced openings in a relatively flat facial surface, is decorated with painted beard, eyebrows, and hair. Other abstract painted motifs decorate the head, as seen in two, thick, "V-shaped," brackets on the face. Ears are denoted by pinched semi-circles at the side of the face, while two pierced owl-like ears or horns protrude from the top of the head. Painted details around these "horns" suggest that they may have been intended to signify a type of headdress. Geometric designs and linear or undulating patterns are emblematic of ceramics dated to the Majiayao culture which likely originated from Yangshao roots, the influences from which are still apparent in this particular Jar and Cover. The shape of the Jar itself echoes the spindle shaped bottles of the 5th millennium BCE and the rendering of facial features through pierced openings directly parallels several known examples of earlier human-headed jars of the Yangshao culture. It was also during the Majiayao culture that potters began to take greater interest in anthropomorphic and figurative designs which incorporated attributes of human or animal anatomy within already abstract aesthetic formats. Provenance:   Far Eastern Collection, Florida. Two very similar painted earthenware covers in the shape of human heads, also with the zigzag edges, are published in Bo Gyllensvard's, The World's Great Collections Oriental Ceramics Vol. 8, in the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, no.12. An interesting Granary with sculpted shaman head was published by Wu Tung in Earth Transformed, in conjunction with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, pg. 6, where the painted lines on its face is described as representing "tattoos on the cheeks." This example is also modeled with pinched ears and pierced slits for eyes and mouth. For a similarly painted jar see Regina Krahl's Dawn of the Yellow Earth: Ancient Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, China Institute Gallery, New York: 2000, cat. no. 12. The pinched ears of the Human-Headed Jar seem to be an offspring of the two tiny pinched tabs of clay (also called "ears," by Ms. Krahl) found on either side of the neck on this example. This as well as other examples of the same publication illustrate a similar patina on the smooth and burnished surfaces. Another jar with a similar, dynamic, swirling roundel pattern is illustrated in Origins of Chinese Ceramics, by Clarence F. Shangraw, China Institute in America, 1978, no. 18, also with two, flat "ear-like" protrusions just under the mouthrim on the neck. Thermoluminscence Tested, Oxford If you would like more information on this piece, please click here.

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View our Object Under Spotlight for May, 2001.

View our Object Under Spotlight for March, 2001. Sold

View our Object Under Spotlight for February, 2001. Sold

View our Object Under Spotlight for January, 2001. Sold

View our Object Under Spotlight for December, 2000.

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