Jar with Spiral Decoration

A large round-bodied earthenware jar with a flared neck, two small loop handles at the shoulders, and a dark painted surface. White-reserved spirals and sweeping curved bands wrap the upper body, while the lower body is left plain and pale. The photograph is monochrome, so the pigment reads as dark against the clay.

Look closer: A second, partly cut-off spiral sits at the upper right of the jar, near the rim.

Artist

Unknown

Date

Machang type (ca. 2350–2050 BCE)

Medium

Earthenware with pigment

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

2059 × 2512 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Charlotte C. and John C. Weber Collection, Gift of Charlotte C. and John C. Weber, 1994