An extremely rare red pottery human-form bottle vase Yangshao culture, Banpo phase, 4800-3500 B.C. 仰韶文化 半坡類型 紅陶人首瓶

Ronald W. Longsdorf, The Pottery Age: An Appreciation of Neolithic Ceramics from China, Circa 7000 BC - Circa 1000 BC, Hong Kong, 2020, pl. 2.

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2

Skilfully sculpted with a humanoid head forming the mouth and surmounting the elongated slender neck, the current bottle from the Banpo phase of the Yangshao culture is a unique and important example of its type. Other vessels with humanoid heads are known but are different in form and lack the sharp edge encircling the midpoint of the rounded shoulder of the current vessel, which is likely the luting line but certainly demonstrates the intentionality and precision of the potter.

The form of the humanoid head at the top appears to indicate that the potter likely added facial features to what otherwise would have been a more common undecorated mouth. See a related ‘red’ pottery example surmounted with a larger head, from the Meiyintang collection, illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, vol. 3, 2006, pl. 1016. Sculpted with a larger head and a shorter neck, it was likely inspired by the double-gourd form often seen in pottery. The stylisation of the hair is also very similar to the current vessel, with small balls of clay pressed on to represent tight curls – more commonly seen on people from outside of China. However, whilst apertures are pierced in the facial features of the Meiyintang example, it is completely closed, thereby ruling out its function as a vessel.

See also a pottery bottle from the Shilingxia culture, c. 4th century B.C., with a humanoid head likely to represent someone from outside of China. Depicted with overlapping bands of clay likely to represent a turban, the figure is further depicted with round eyes – as opposed to almond-shaped ones more commonly employed to depict Asians.

本品源自仰韶文化，半坡時期，紅陶瓶頸纖長，頂作人首，生動傳神，獨一無二，屬極為重要之文物。現知其他人首瓶作例，器形均相異，且瓶身無本品清晰腰線，或為拉坏特意留下之痕。

相較他例素面瓶首，本品巧綴人面，更顯匠心獨具，參考玫茵堂藏一件紅陶人首瓶，錄於康蕊君《玫茵堂中國陶瓷》，卷3，2006年，倫敦，圖版1016，人首的比例更大，瓶頸較短，或取材於葫蘆造形，頭髮類同本品，以丸形小團壓製而成，較似外族髮式，運用鏤雕技法描寫面容，然無開口，遂不能作為容器使用。

並參考石嶺下文化一例，約公元前四世紀，瓶首綴人面，眼圓，土條相交疊似頭巾，或為異族。