Black amphora

3rd -2nd century BCE

This symmetrical amphora was probably made at the end of the Bronze Age. A pleasing sense of balance is created by handles that blend into the rounded profile of the body, the pointed mouth and circular base. Hand-built and polished, the vessel still shows the scrape marks from the tool used in its creation.

Earthenware

6 3/4 x 7 3/4 x 5 3/4 in. (17.15 x 19.69 x 14.61 cm)

Diam. bottom: 2 7/8 in.

Gift of Mary and Cheney Cowles

97.7

Photo: Elizabeth Mann

Now on view at the Asian Art Museum

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Chinese Art: A Seattle Perspective, Dec. 22, 2007 - July 26, 2009.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Boundless: Stories of Asian Art, Feb. 8, 2020 - ongoing.

Published ReferencesFoong, Ping, Xiaojin Wu, and Darielle Mason. "An Asian Art Museum Transformed." Orientations vol. 51, no. 3 (May/June 2020): p. 61, reproduced fig. 22 (installation view).

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