1993: Goblet, glossy black terracotta

China, Shandong Province, Longshan Culture, (to 2500 - to 1800 BC), MC 9908.

Terracotta goblet H. 0,18; L.: 0,073 Province of Shandong Culture of Longshan (circa 2500-circa 1800) MC 9908. Gift of the Society of Friends of the Cernuschi Museum, 1993 The Neolithic culture of Longshan, originating in Shandong, is characterized among other things by a ceramic mounted in the tower, with walls so thin (less than a millimeter thick) that the expression "eggshell" has been used to describe it. Its deep black color is accentuated by their external polish obtained by buffing. The mud, wet and fired in a reducing atmosphere, absorb the carbon given off by the fuel. Its rate, at the surface of the parts, considerably exceeds the carbon content in the body of the ceramic material itself. This characteristic black color is at the origin of the expression "culture of the black pottery" (Black Pottery Culture) by which one sometimes indicates the culture of Longshan.