Dish with wave motif

This object was excavated at the Xiaomeisha mid-Neolithic beach site in 1980. It is the earliest restorable colored pottery dish with ring foot ever to be excavated in the Pearl River area. It has a regular form and is expertly made. The surface of the fine yellow clay has been smoothed. Ocher-red paint has been applied to the dark red parts of its surface. The sides of the dish are painted with a wave design and the ring foot is carved with a single regular wave. Small, ordered holes serve as a complement to the colorful waves. The position of the openwork and the carved design indicate that the holes are beads of water coming from the frothing waves. A combination of painting, carving, and openwork are used to create a design that looks like waves and beads of water. Light is able to pass through the holes, and the paint of the waves provides an interesting contrast between abstraction and realism. It is assumed that the dish was used as a ritual vessel for worshipping the gods.