土偶|Head of a Figure (Dogū)
Unknown Artist
Medium
Earthenware with incised and cord-marked designs
Dimensions
H. 2 1/2 in. (6.4 cm); W. 2 3/4 in. (7 cm); D. 2 1/2 in. (6.4 cm)
Classification
Ceramics
Culture & Period
Japan · Final Jōmon period (ca. 1000–300 B.C.) or later
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Harry G. C. Packard Collection of Asian Art, Gift of Harry G. C. Packard, and Purchase, Fletcher, Rogers, Harris Brisbane Dick, and Louis V. Bell Funds, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, and The Annenberg Fund Inc. Gift, 1975
Accession Number
1975.268.194
Tags
Art Historical Context
This petite earthenware head, known as a *Dogū*, hails from Japan's Final Jōmon periodca. 1000–300 B.C.) or later, a time when hunter-gatherer communities crafted some of the world's earliest complex pottery. Part of the enigmatic Dogū tradition—small clay figurines often featuring stylized human or hybrid forms—this piece invites us into prehistoric Japan, where such objects likely held ritual or symbolic importance, perhaps linked to fertility, protection, or spiritual beliefs. Crafted from earthenware, the head showcases Jōmon ingenuity through incised lines—delicately carved patterns—and ...