Jar with Curvilinear Designs

A round-bodied earthenware jar with a tall neck and two small loop handles, decorated with bold swirling spirals painted in dark purple-black slip on a pale clay ground. The lower body is left plain and the neck carries a band of cross-hatching and a row of triangular motifs. The sweeping curvilinear pattern is the jar's dominant feature.

Look closer: Small pale triangular motifs sit in the spaces between the spirals on the shoulder.

Artist

Unknown

Date

2650–2350 BCE

Medium

earthenware with slip-painted decoration

Source

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Size

3400 × 2952 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Cleveland Museum of Art, Charles W. Harkness Endowment Fund