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China

Model of a Two-Story Structure

Eastern Han dynasty, 25–220 CE
Brick-red earthenware with green lead glaze
33.5 × 11.5 cm (13.2 × 4.5 in)

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● On view now — Gallery 133

Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · verified July 2026

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

Burial models attest to the prevalence of multistoried buildings in early imperial China. This two-story structure, simply constructed of clay slabs, has a tile roof and an openwork balcony supported by brackets. Such realistic details are modified by imaginative "squatting-bear" feet. This model may depict a granary, or it may have been assembled with other clay structures to form a residential compound.

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