Three red pottery 'saddle-mouth' handled jars, Siwa culture, c. 1350 BC 寺窪文化 紅陶馬鞍口雙耳罐三件

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Three red pottery 'saddle-mouth' handled jars,
Siwa culture, c. 1350 BC
寺窪文化 紅陶馬鞍口雙耳罐三件

h. 23.7, 16.4, and 16 cm

Condition Report:
All three jars appear in overall good condition with no visible structural damage; there are expected chips to the edges of the mouth rim and handles, with occasional old cracks near the mouths to the two jars on the left; there are burning marks and residues of clay on surface as visible in illustration.
總體品相良好，肉眼未見結構性損傷；邊沿及口沿有正常磕碰，圖左兩件見舊裂；如圖所示，表面見燒造痕跡及殘留陶土。

Catalogue Note:
Siwa culture flourished in southeast Gansu during the Bronze Age. Pottery jars featuring saddle-shaped mouths, such as the present vessels and lot 819 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.