Chinese, China Gansu Province

Skillfully formed by hand and beautifully painted with lozenge patterns typical of Banshan ceramics, this jar illustrates early Chinese ceramic manufacture and decoration. The Banshan culture existed within the Yangshao culture, which flourished in the Yellow River region during the Neolithic Period.

Swedish geologist Johan Gunnar Andersson (1874–1960) probably purchased this particular jar; he also excavated pots of this type from a grave in a Banshan cemetery in 1924. Andersson explored a number of archaeological sites in China from 1921 to 1926, documenting how jars of this sort, which may have held offerings, were placed around a corpse.