Chinese (Han dynasty) Tortoise-Shaped Inkstone 206 B.C.-A.D. 220 Gray earthenware 4 inches high, 10 inches long William Hood Dunwoody Fund 32.54.4a,b

• The tortoise-shaped inkstone is a CERAMIC sculpture found in a tomb of the Han DYNASTY, from the time when China was unified into the greatest empire in Asia.
   
• The artist's unique interpretation combines the ORGANIC hand- built form of a tortoise with GEOMETRIC patterns and symbols INCISED on its shell.
   
• Han pottery figures, while modeled in clay, display characteristics of tomb sculptures carved out of stone during the same period.
   
• Inkstones were used by scholars who practiced the revered art of writing called CALLIGRAPHY.
   

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