A black 'eggshell' pottery stemcup Longshan culture, c. 2500-2000 B.C. 龍山文化 蛋殼黑陶高足盃

Ronald W. Longsdorf, The Pottery Age: An Appreciation of Neolithic Ceramics from China, Circa 7000 BC - Circa 1000 BC, Hong Kong, 2020, pl. 59.

Ronald W. Longsdorf, 《陶誌：中國新石器時代陶器 約公元前7000年 – 前1000年》，香港，2020年，圖版59

The present stemcup belongs to a group of signature black pottery wares of the Longshan culture. Characterised by paper-thin walls and their lustrous sheen, these cups are usually described as 'eggshell' pottery. An interesting observation on the present stemcup are the traces of a white grid-like pattern resembling the texture of finely woven textile, suggesting the stemcup may have been wrapped during burial.

Compare a similar stemcup, but with a strict columnar stem less elegant to the present example, illustrated in Yu Haiguang (ed.), Gems of Artefacts in the Collection of the Shandong University, Jinan, 2002, p. 17, no. 18.

本高足盃出自一組典型龍山文化黑陶，薄壁及器身明亮如蛋殼，本品器身帶極細微網格白紋，與織品相近，據此可推斷此盃出土前或曾以布料包裹。

比較一例，盃足較直，不如本品秀麗，圖載于海廣（編），《山東大學文物精品選》，濟南，2002年，頁17，編號18。