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Basin with two anthropomorphic handles

Basin with two anthropomorphic handles

Chinese

Small circular basin with two arching handles rising upward from the rim, each terminating in a molded form resembling a human face; lower portion of vessel tapers inward to a flat base; buff earthenware lightly burnished and decorated with geometric designs painted in dark brown slip before firing; painted designs include dotted concentric circles and undulating lines; a faint grid-like pattern of lines painted on the base. Majiayao culture, Majiayao type. From the upper Yellow River valley region; Gansu, Qinghai, or Ningxia province.

Earthenware with slip-painted decoration

Neolithic period, Majiayao culture, c. 3300-2000 BCE

Vessels