Japan, Middle Jomon period Storage Jar About 3000-2000 B.C. Earthenware with modeled and impressed decor 22 inches wide, 21-1/4 inches high The Ethel Morrison Van Derlip Fund 82.9.1

This Middle Jomon vessel is a large, heavy, flat-bottomed earthenware jar topped with a fanciful rim. It represents a striking change in pottery forms. Earlier UTILITARIAN clay pots were kneaded and punched into simple shapes with pointed bases that held them upright when pushed into the ground.

The cylindrical body flares outward to the hand-shaped pierced and looped projections around the rim. The lower portion is lightly textured with diagonal low-relief pressed-cord patterns that serve as a backdrop to INCISED ORGANIC (plantlike) and CURVILINEAR forms, including a large, central spiral. What these elaborate patterns represent remains a mystery. The ornamental scalloped rim dominates both the decoration and the form. At times Jomon rims are almost as large as the vessels. This type of rugged sculptural design appears only on urns or jars. The loops of the rim could serve as handles, but this solid pot would be awkward to carry very far when filled.

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