Height 14. 1 cm, caliber 29 cm. This basin is made of exquisite clay. The mouth is slightly narrowed, the lips are curled and the abdomen is distended, and the lower abdomen is small and flat, painted black. The mouth edge and the upper part of the outer wall are decorated with some simple lines, and the dance pattern as the main decoration is on the upper part of the inner wall. The inner wall of pottery is decorated with dance patterns of two groups of characters holding hands. Vivid composition and refined lines have high artistic appreciation value.
The dance pattern is divided into three groups, with five dancers in each group, holding hands and dancing with the same face. They have braided ornaments on their heads and fluttering ornaments below, just like skirts. The headdress of the figure and the ornaments below float to the left and right respectively, which adds the dynamic feeling of the dance. What's even more amazing is that two lines are drawn on the outer arms of two people in each group, as if to show that the empty-arm dance moves greatly and swings frequently. In western modern painting, it is regarded as an artistic innovation to show the continuous motion of things on a still picture, but similar expression techniques have appeared in China's primitive art, and this bold creation cannot but be applauded.
Dance is an art form that expresses people's thoughts and feelings in life with rhythmic movements as the main means of expression, usually accompanied by music. Dance has been produced in primitive society. Ancestors used dance to celebrate harvest, victory, prayer to God or ancestor worship. This painted pottery basin expresses the theme of joy and concentrates people's wisdom and life interest five or six thousand years ago.
The design and production of painted pottery pots also reflected the proficiency of pottery-making technology and the progress of aesthetic thought at that time. The dancer's image is depicted in a monochromatic and flat way, and the shape is simple and lively. Three rows of dancers form a circle around the rim of the basin, and below it are four parallel swimming lanes, representing the ground. When the basin is full of water, dancers can be in harmony with the reflection in the pool. The small basin became a calm pond, and the happy people by the pool were reflected on the water. The charm of dance is fascinating.
There are many different views on the content of dance, but everyone agrees that it not only vividly reproduces the warm scene of the group dance of our ancestors, but also vividly conveys their vitality. As German scholar Gross said, "primitive dance is the most straightforward, perfect and powerful expression of primitive beauty."