Polished three legged earhenware vase

End Neolithic/early bronze age, Xiajiadian Culture (ca. 2200-1000 BC)

The Xiajiadian culture was based in the north East of China, different from other concentrated earlier Chnese civilisations. This vessel is typical with its steady three footed bottom and flared mouth. The high quality is represented by its evenly burnished surface, its height and the two incised lined aroudn the neack. On the bottom, plant routs have been growing onto the surface after longtime burial, a sign of its age. Some vesseals still maintain their original surface decorations, usually compsed by abstract animal pattern painted in read and white.