Double-handled jar

This tall-necked jar has a flat base and a slightly sloping belly. The double handles mark the vessel as distinct from Banshan wares in form, for jars produced during the late Machang period lost the balanced proportion between the handles and the body seen in earlier pottery. Decorative subjects are arranged more sparsely on the background, no longer densely covering the body as seen in Banshan pieces. Jars such as this one appear in late Machang sites in the Lanzhou area of Gansu and the Qijia culture sites at Liuwan of Qinghai.