Lot 2. Two burnished black pottery vessels, Neolithic, Longshan Culture, (2500-2000 BC), 9 1/2 and 12 3/4 in., 24.1 and 32.4 cm. Estimate 3,000 — 4,000 USD. Lot sold 10,200 USD. © Sotheby's.

the first a ewer with a compressed globular body rising to a tall wasted neck pinched on one side for a spout opposite a large loop handle, all supported on a single splayed foot finished with a rope cord on the edge, the other a dou food vessel with a waisted tubular body rising to a wide cupped mouth, the sides decorated with horizontal raised filets and two small lug handles, the slightly domed cover set with two lug handles and a flaring stemmed knop that allows for the underside to be used as a dish, both vessels covered with a lustrous black surface (2).

Note: The covered dou  shape can be seen illustrated in KC Chang, The Archaeology of Ancient China, New Haven, 1986, p. 250 and 253, pl. 206 and 210.  

The dating of the ewer is consistent with the results of a thermoluminescence test, Oxford Authentication Ltd., no. C104s54.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, New York, 31 mars 2005