Neolithic Period, Yangshao Culture

Height: 35.8 cm, Mouth diameter: 23.3 cm

Unearthed in 1958 at Taipingzhuang, Huaxian County, Shaanxi Province

This pottery ding takes the form of a standing male eagle. The eagle's body is robust, with thick, powerful legs, its wings are folded tightly against its sides, and its tail hangs down to the ground. The eyes are wide and round, and the beak is sharply hooked. The structure is concise, and the overall presence is imposing and majestic. The mouth of the ding is set on the eagle's back, between the wings, ingeniously integrating the functional characteristics of a ding vessel with the aesthetic form of an eagle.

The eagle-shaped pottery ding is an exemplary fusion of primitive art and practical function, and a rare sculptural masterpiece from remote antiquity. Yangshao culture is renowned for its exquisite painted pottery. The emergence of this eagle-shaped ding demonstrates that people of this period were not only skilled in painted decoration but also possessed considerable strength in sculptural and modeling art.