On view

Asian Art
Huo Pavilion

Gui 鬹 (vessel),

ca. 2800–2400 BCE

Chinese
Late Dawenkou, mid 3rd millenium BCE | Neolithic period, ca. 8000–2000 BCE
2002-128
In the Neolithic period, the many settled agricultural communities that flourished along river systems across China needed durable vessels in which they could store, cook, and serve food and drink. Neolithic craftspeople answered this need by producing a startling variety of technologically advanced pottery. The Dawenkou culture, named for the site where it was first discovered in Shandong province, is known for a remarkable type of thin-walled white ware. Ranging in color from white to yellow to pink, these ceramics contained high amounts of kaolin, the same clay mineral used to make porcelain, and they were fired to a temperature of about 900°C. Elaborately shaped pouring vessels of this type, which first appeared near the beginning of the third millennium BCE, were undoubtedly objects of high status, possibly designed for special ritual purposes not satisfied by more mundane daily ware.

More Context

More About This Object

Information

Title
Gui 鬹 (vessel)
Dates

ca. 2800–2400 BCE

Medium
Earthenware with red and white pigments
Dimensions
h. 20.8 cm., w. 11.9 cm., d. 12.3 cm. (8 3/16 x 4 11/16 x 4 13/16 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, Fowler McCormick, Class of 1921, Fund
Object Number
2002-128
Place Made

Asia, China

Materials

–2002 Eskenazi Ltd., Oriental Art (London, UK), sold to the Princeton University Art Museum, 2002.