A superb 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. 62.

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62

The present stemcup is a rare example of a wheel-made pottery vessel of the Longshan culture. It is exceptionally fine for its even potting, paper-thin walls and glossy black sheen. For examples of black 'eggshell' pottery see six differently shaped stemcups illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 3 (I), London, 2006, pls. 1058-1063. Krahl, ibid., p. 46, notes that the use of the potter's wheel was a technological breakthrough during this period which enabled more sophisticated forming than the coil-built method traditionally used. The Longshan potters exploited this new technique to create eggshell-thin vessels of breathtaking elegance, shaving the walls to minimal thickness with the help of a tool. To emphasise the appearance of weightlessness, these feather-light vessels were in addition pierced with openwork'. (Krahl, ibid., p. 46)

A closely related example from Collection Gisèle Cröes, Brussels, is illustrated in Ronald W. Longsdorf, The Pottery Age: An Appreciation of Neolithic Ceramics from China, Circa 7000 BC - Circa 1000 BC, Hong Kong, 2020, p. 178, fig. 1.

本器以龍山文化快輪拉胚製成，極爲珍罕，造型匀稱，器壁細薄，光澤明亮，展現陶匠絕藝。比較六件蛋殼黑陶高足盃例，器型各異，載於康蕊君，《玫茵堂中國陶瓷》，卷3（I），倫敦，2006年，圖版1058-1063。康蕊君並述（出處同上，頁46），快輪拉胚乃該時期之重要技術突破，比較傳統泥條盤築法，所成器型更見精巧。龍山文化陶匠善用新技，所成陶器優雅絕倫，以快輪之助，成纖薄器壁，為突顯陶盃輕巧，更多有鏤空之作。（康蕊君，出處同上，頁46）

比較一例，出自比利時布魯塞爾Gisèle Cröes收藏，載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，頁178，圖1。