Jar with single lug,black earthenware.

Collection NumberA006081
TitleJar with single lug,black earthenware.
DateLate Neolithic age, Longshan culture, ca.2500-2000 BCE.
Name of prefectures & citiesChina, Lower Yellow river region.
Description of works【Jar that appears so fragile that touching it might break it】
Crafted with meticulous care on a potter’s wheel, this thin-walled type of pottery is called rankaku kokuto (eggshell black pottery). This jar’s shiny black surface was achieved by carbon trapping, which is a technique of blackening the surface of a piece of pottery by letting it trap the soot inside a kiln where a reduced amount of oxygen is present, followed by meticulous polishing. It is typical of the pottery made in the late Neolithic period by the Longshan culture. This type of pottery was not made for household use but for use as funerary objects in the tombs of those with relatively high social status.

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