A large red pottery 'saddle-mouth' handled jar, Siwa culture, c. 1350 BC 寺窪文化 紅陶馬鞍口雙耳罐

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A large red pottery 'saddle-mouth' handled jar,
Siwa culture, c. 1350 BC
寺窪文化 紅陶馬鞍口雙耳罐

w. 29.1 cm

Catalogue Note:
Siwa culture flourished in southeast Gansu during the Bronze Age. Pottery jars featuring saddle-shaped mouths, such as the present example and lot 827 from the same collection, belong to a classic pottery type of this civilisation. The characteristic variegated tones of the orange slip-applied surfaces resulting from inconsistencies in temperature during firing make each vessel a unique work of art.

A jar of this form has been excavated from Disiping, Lianlu, Kangle county in Gansu; see Zhongguo taoci quanji [The Complete Works of Chinese Ceramics], vol. 2: Xia, Shang, Zhou, Spring and Autumn, and Warring States periods, Shanghai, 2000, no. 90. Compare also two similar Siwa double-handled jars with saddle-shaped mouths in the Harvard Art Museums, accession nos 2006.170.69 and 2006.170.70.