The form of this thin-walled, hand-built basin follows a Pan-po-type shape of the Yang shao culture that was already in use nearly a thousand years before this vessel was made. The wide rounded bowl has a fairly small flat base and an everted rim with a broad, rounded rim flange. Typical of much Ma-chia-yao ware, it is made of yellowish-brown earthenware, extensively painted in overall concentric and spiral patterns. It is exquisitely burnished imparting a rich luster to its interior surface.