Petite Neolithic Jar

This petite ceramic jar is believed to be a later example of Neolithic Chinese redware pottery of the Yangshao culture. Although its exact age is unknown, the jar was likely created around 5000–3000 B.C.E.. Hand coiled and burnished on a slow-turning wheel before painting, Yangshao vessels are notable for their red-orange earthenware and squat form. This jar, painted with a free hand in an imaginative geometric design, was probably used to hold food or liquids buried with the dead. Now weathered from age and use, we marvel at this object for its storied past.