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Expert’s note: Expressive polychrome designs on ancient archaic wares from China, such as those on the present lot, are said to have inspired the Art Deco movement in Europe. A good example for this theory can be found in the work of noted architect Henry van der Welde (1863-1957), as some of his designs were based on abstracted forms and rhythmic lines which are common features of advanced Majiayao style pottery, such as the present lot. While this lot does not date from the Majiayao period, it seems to be a rather early revival piece, dating from the late Qing or Republic period, when sophisticated copies of ancient Majiayao wares emerged on the market for the first time.
China, Majiayao style, late 19th to first half of the 20th century. Robustly potted with a baluster body surmounted by a slightly flaring neck with everted rim, flanked by two loop handles with raised studs, vividly painted with four roundels composed of three swirling blades – reminiscent of the gankyil emblem – within a wavy design above two bands enclosing stylized fish amid waves as well as lines and plains roundels, the latter repeated on the neck, the interior of the mouth similarly decorated with further geometric designs.
Provenance: From the collection of Paul Atkinson, acquired between 1970 and 2007. Paul Atkinson is a passionate and wide-ranging collector whose career has spanned over five decades. Known for his boundless curiosity and entrepreneurial spirit, Atkinson began his journey in the antiques trade during the 1970s, sourcing pieces from regional sales and eventually opening his first shop in Matlock, Derbyshire. At one of his first auctions as a 20-year-old in 1970, a veteran dealer came over to Atkinson at a farm sale and said, “you think that you have joined a business, don't you?” Atkinson responded, “Well, this isn't a business – it's an illness from which you never recover”. His eye for the unique and rare quickly led him to the international stage, exporting English furniture to the United States and Europe and expanding into fields such as Pre-Colombian, tribal, and ethnographic art. Over the years, Atkinson built an eclectic collection that includes Grand Tour bronzes, Anglo-Indian carvings, Ottoman arms, African masks, and European furniture. His reputation was solidified with the opening of a gallery in the Louvre des Antiquaires in Paris, and later through his restoration of Sydnope Hall, once the home of Charles Darwin’s family. Together with his wife Vivien, an experienced art market professional, Atkinson later relocated to Mallorca, where they opened a major gallery catering to a distinguished international clientele.
Condition: Very good condition with minor old wear and firing irregularities, a small chip to the center of the neck, the handles with tiny chips and soil encrustations, the base with a small hole and corresponding fill.
Weight: 2.5 kg
Dimensions: Height 36.6 cm
The Majiayao culture was a group of smaller Neolithic communities who lived primarily in the upper Yellow River region of eastern Gansu, Qinghai and northern Sichuan, China. The culture, which existed from 3800 to 2000 BC, produced earthenware pottery that fall into four distinct phases, Shilingxia, Majiayao, Banshan, and Machang. The second phase, Majiayao, is superbly represented by its a distinctive linear quality with black parallel lines encircling the vessel with fluid and rhythmic movements creating striking graphic effects.
People of the second phase of Majiayao culture lived in riverside villages, and made their livelihood by hunting, fishing, and small-scale plant cultivation. Kilns were located just outside the village, but potting does not seem to have been a specialized occupation. There was very little variation in the types of vessels made, and certain shapes remained popular for many centuries.
Sizable jars rank among the largest ceramic forms produced during the Majiayao culture. Their substantial proportions and wide mouths suggest a practical function as water containers or storage tanks. The painted decoration on the present example—curved wave patterns alongside straight horizontal lines—may symbolically reference moving and still water. Alternatively, the piece may represent a later stylistic re-interpretation of ancient prototypes, rather than a direct replica of a known original.
Literature comparison:
Compare a related pottery vase attributed to the Majiayao phase, c. 3100-2700 BC, with similar studded handles and painted wave design, in the Chinese University of Hong Kong Art Museum, accession number 1993.0266. Compare a closely related Majiayao pottery jar, dated late 4th to early 3rd millennium BC, 43 cm high, in the Humbolt Forum, Berlin, object number DLG O-740-2018. Compare a closely related Majiayao pottery jar, 33 cm high, in the Yuzhong County Museum.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 31 May 2023, lot 826
Price: HKD 165,100 or approx. EUR 19,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A large painted pottery jar, Majiayao culture, Majiayao phase, c. 3100-2700 BC
Expert remark: Compare the related form, decoration, and motifs, with similar lineal waves, studded handles, and size (38.5).
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