Minneapolis Institute of Art

Funerary storage jar

Majiayao artist

Date

c. 2300 BCE

Medium

Machang type Earthenware with painted decor

Culture

Majiayao

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

The seemingly abstract zigzag designs on the burial storage jar are a stylized version of a human-like stick figure. The neck of the jar in this case represents the head. Built from coils of clay, the vessel relates in shape to the earlier Banshan (2600-2300 BCE) jars shown here, but its proportions are more elongated and its surface is matte and unburnished. Related Machang (2200-2000 BCE) type jars have been excavated in Gansu and Qinghai provinces in northwest China. Majiayao, Asia

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