Period: the early Shang dynasty (c.1750 BCE)
Measurements: L. 9.8 cm
Provenance: Unearthed at Shangjie, Zhengzhou, Henan in 1958

Of cylindrical form，the sculpture features a  rectangular face, a high nose, the eyes and the mouth were indicated by slots; though no ears, there is a hole at the position of the ear at either side. The portrayal of the face resembles that of the examples of the late Yangshao Culture in Gansu, and the heads on the colored flask with a human head-shaped mouth, red clay flask painted with human head, all of their facial expressions are marked with incised lines.

Additionally, remarkable progress is visible in modelling and technique in comparison to another example of the Neolithic Age unearthed in Henan province, a process from rustic and clumsy kneading, to intentional engraving and modelling, which display the developing traces and the artistic traits of “modelling the shape with line” in Chinese sculpture.