Partial Figure of a Pregnant Women
1000–300 BC
- Medium
- Earthenware
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Dimensions
- 14.7 × 6.9 × 3.8 cm (5 3/4 × 2 3/4 × 1 1/2 in.)
- Culture
- Japan
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of Asia
- Credit line
- Purchased with Funds Provided by the Weston Foundation; Robert Allerton Trust
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
This figurine (dogû) is clearly a female form, and judging from the swollen belly, it may be a representation of a pregnant woman. It is possible, therefore, that it was used in rituals to secure safe childbirth or as a prayer for rebirth. The piece is missing the head, one arm, and one leg, but this is not unusual for figurines of this period that were likely broken ritually. Many Jômon figurines contain significant linear or geometric surface patterning, though a small number, including this work, are more sculptural. Figurines of this kind tend to concentrate on the carefully modeled volume of the figure rather than on the lines on its surface.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
