Celadon jar with architecture and proto-Buddhas

Dated 287 (Western Jin period). Excavated in 1983 from a tomb at the construction site of a steel factory in Hangzhou, China. Zhejiang Provincial Museum, Gushan Branch. <br> This type of ceramicware, sometimes referred to as the "underground barns (*gucang*)" or "soul urns (*hunping*)," was frequently used as grave goods (*mingqi*) in 3rd-century tombs in cities along China's southeast coast.<br> The cover of this jar is shaped into a building complex with a central tower, a courtyard enclosure, and multistory gateways with beast guardians as columns. Most notable is the row of seated figures--identified as proto-Buddhist icons--around the bottom of the cover; here we witness one of the earliest cases where Buddhist iconography intruded into indigenous Chinese art.<br> (Note: images of the back of the jar are largely missing due to glares of the museum lighting on the protective glass case, which makes photographing difficult.) Source: Objaverse 1.0 / Sketchfab