with Frog Design in Brown and Black
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Attributed Date: 2300-2000B.C. Ma-ch'ang Culture of Neolithic Period Archaeological Analysis: Significance: |
This painted pottery jar with frog design in brown and black is attributed to the Ma-ch'ang Culture (2300 -2000 BC) of the Neolithic Period. According to the Chinese archaeological research: the neolithic North China is composed of two dominate Cultures, the Yang-shao culture and the Lung-shan Culture. They run from 5000 B.C. to 1000 B.C. through various phases of development in different geographic regions. Yang-shao culture is found in the Central Plains area, and the Lung-shan culture is located in northern Shantung. Ma-ch'ang culture (2300 -2000 B.C.) is one of the important northwestern Yang-shao phases. The name"Ma-ch'ang" was named by its discoverer, Mr Andersson, after the typesite of Ma-ch'ang-yen near the Tsinghai Kansu border. Based on radiocarbon dates we believe that Ma-ch'ang partially paralleled its earlier Pan-shan phase (2500 B.C.) for a century or two and entered into the 2nd millennium B.C. in the Central Plains.
(Shangraw, F Clarence, "Origins of Chinese
Ceramics", China House Gallery/China Institute in America, New York,
October 25,1978 - January 28, 1979.)
Significance:
This storage jar, type Kuan, is a reddish-buff earthenware painted with brown and black pigments. This globular urn reflects the favour of the Ma-ch'ang artisans, who were concerned more with the sculptural experimental techniques than the painted patterns. The shape is more sleekly proportioned with smoother flowing contours than the presented Pan-shan culture. The rim is surrounded by a reverted lip, held by a cylindrical neck. The widest girth is attached with two loop handles of the opposite side symmetrically. Then the contours are converged to a small circular flat base. However, the decoration shows the continuity of the conventional Pan-shan phase. Only the upper portion of the urn is painted with two main motifs, encircled by chevrons on the neck and a broad band on the lower edge of the decorative zone. One of the main motifs is a "frog" like stick-figured zoomorph with tufty limbs, while the other one is a concentric circle covered with crisscross lines inside. The frog like creatures and crisscrossed circles and displayed alternatively around the decorative zone.
Hundreds of similar specimens were excavated at a cemetery site in Lo-tu hsien (K'ao-ku 1976.6, pp.365-371; Wen-wu 1976.1, 67-78).
