Black Pottery Tripod Jar / Artist Unknown, China
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About this Item
Record Details
- Accession Number
- 2003/2.22
- Title
- Black Pottery Tripod Jar
- Artist
- Artist Unknown, China
- Artist Nationality
- Chinese
- Medium and Support
- grey earthenware
- Object Creation Date
- 2200 BCE - 1600 BCE
- Object Creation Place
- Asia (continent)
- China (nation)
- Inner Mongolia (autonomous region)
- Liaoning province
- Creation Place 1
- Asia (continent)
- Creation Place 2
- China (nation)
- Creation Place 3
- Inner Mongolia (autonomous region)
- Creation Place 4
- Liaoning province
- Credit Line
- Gift of www.silkroadtrade.com owners Seung Man Kim, Robert Piao, Daniel Shin and Hemin Quan
- Style/Group/Movement
- neolithic
- Dimensions
- 23.8 cm x 15.4 cm x 15.4 cm (9 3/8 in. x 6 1/16 in. x 6 1/16 in.)
- Primary Object Classification
- Ceramic
- Primary Object Type
- beaker
- Secondary Object Classification
- Ritual Objects
- Secondary Object Type
- tripod
- Physical Description
- Li tripod beaker, with a cylindrical body flares out at the rim, and expands organically in its lower half to rest on three udder-shaped legs. It appears to have been dipped into black slip and burnished to produce a smooth, shiny surface.
- Subject Matter
- Such tripod beakers are frequently discovered in the elite tombs of the Lower Xiajiadian Culture, which flourished what is today Inner Mongolia between about 2200 BCE and 1600 BCE. This is the transitional period to the early Bronze Age in China. Frequent discovery of hill-top fortifications associated with these cemetery attests to intercommunity competition and violence in this society.
- While this beaker appears to have been dipped into black slip and burnished to produce a smooth, shiny surface, many others were painted with zoomorphic designs in polychrome pigments suggesting their function as ceremonial objects. In a funerary context, it probably held wine for the afterlife or was once used in the feast at the funeral.
- Secondary Keywords
- ceramics
- containers
- containers by form
- descriptors
- object genres
- object genres by material
- objects we use
- pottery (object genre)
- vessels
- Rights
- If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit https://umma.umich.edu/about/services/request-image/ for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Technical Details
- Collection
- University of Michigan Museum of Art
- Image Size
- 2016 x 2856
- File Size
- 766 KB
- Record
- 2003/2.22
- Link to this Item
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-2003-sl-2.22/2003_2_22.jpg
Rights and Permissions
Related Links
Portfolios
IIIF
- Manifest
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:2003-SL-2.22:2003_2_22.JPG
Cite this Item
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- Full citation
-
"Black Pottery Tripod Jar; Artist Unknown, China." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-2003-sl-2.22/2003_2_22.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 24, 2024.