Ovoid Jar (Hu)
Unknown Artist
2300–2000 BCE
Medium
Earthenware with pigments
Dimensions
H. 15 in. (38.1 cm)
Classification
Ceramics
Culture & Period
China · Neolithic period, Majiayao culture, Machang type
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Charlotte C. and John C. Weber Collection, Gift of Charlotte C. and John C. Weber, 1994
Accession Number
1994.605.128
Art Historical Context
This elegant ovoid jar, known as a *hu*, hails from China's Neolithic period (2300–2000 BCE), specifically the Majiayao culture Machang type. Standing at 15 inches tall, it exemplifies the sophisticated pottery traditions of ancient communities in the upper Yellow River region, where early farmers crafted vessels for daily storage, rituals, or burials. As part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Asian collection—generously gifted by Charlotte C. and C. Weber in 1994—this jar offers a window into one of China's earliest complex societies, predating written history by millennia. Crafted from ea...