A large painted pottery jar Majiayao culture, Banshan to Machang phase, c. 2600-2000 B.C. 馬家窰文化 半山至馬廠類型 彩陶大罐

Ronald W. Longsdorf, The Pottery Age: An Appreciation of Neolithic Ceramics from China, Circa 7000 BC - Circa 1000 BC, Hong Kong, 2020, pl. 27.

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27

Gracious in its proportion and thoughtful in its composition, the present jar is not only an outstanding example of large painted pottery jars from the Banshan phase in Majiayao culture, but also an exquisite masterpiece combining geometry and abstractionism in the art of pottery.

It is widely believed that such jars were intended to be viewed from the top, which probably explained why they are usually undecorated from the midpoint of the vessel as they would remain invisible to the eye. The astute design of horizontal arrangements of bold dark roundels each accentuated by concentric dotted borders within them created a powerful contrast between the geometrical circles and their negative spaces. The bulbous curving contours of the vessel, as well as the interruption of the loop handles would have posed challenges to the Neolithic potters to maintain a symmetrical outcome to the composition. The uneven negative spaces between the second horizontal register of large roundels are cleverly disguised by the insertion of smaller roundels between them, as well as the bold line borders underneath. The resulting arrangement created an hypnotising design with remains timeless to the modern eye.

Compare a similar jar illustrated in Cheng Zheng and Qian Zhiqiang, Painted pottery of the Yellow River, Taipei, 1994, p. 280, pl. 197; and another in the collection of Jinshan Museum, illustrated in Jinshan Museum (ed.), Fascinating charm of ancient pottery: Exquisite pottery of Jinshan Museum, Shanghai, 2015, p. 45.

本品造形優雅，紋飾佈局清朗大方，不僅是馬家窰文化、半山時期之珍貴文物，亦展現抽象而雋永悠長的陶藝之美。

此類陶罐紋飾，多僅綴於器身上半部，或原使用方式為俯觀之，遂無須贅飾下部。深褐空心圓，渾厚大膽，間綴細點框線，虛實之間，對比強烈，震撼壯美，器肩圓鼓，兩側小耳，均使得紋飾繪製，更成挑戰。下層大圈紋之間，巧綴小圈，更顯平衡一致。懾人心弦，至今觀之仍能深受觸動。

比較一例，刊於程征及錢志強，《黃河彩陶》，台北，1994年，頁280，圖版197；還有一例載於金山博物館（編），《古韻陶魂：金山博物館藏陶器精品》，上海，2015年，頁45。