Bird-shaped Urn
2650–2350 BCE
- Medium
- earthenware with slip-painted decoration
- Classification
- Ceramic
- Dimensions
- Overall: 26.7 x 31.1 x 27.9 cm (10 1/2 x 12 1/4 x 11 in.)
- Culture
- Northwest China, Neolithic period, Majiayao culture, Banshan phase (2650–2350 BCE)
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Chinese Art
- Credit line
- Gift of Dr. Norman Zaworski in honor of Dr. Ju-hsi Chou
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Little Ones profiles and older: it shows gentle subjects for the very young. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
An imaginative shape and abstract curvilinear patterns lend delightful charm to this functional jar. Its fine-grained body has a light reddish color due to the iron content in the clay, achieved by ensuring abundant air in the kiln during the firing. The surfaces were burnished before applying the painted decoration in black and red.
