Stem Cup c. 2500

This black Stem Cup at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, made by Longshan, rises like a dark, slender monument. It stands so tall and self-assured. I can imagine the cup emerging from the earth, formed by careful hands, shaped and reshaped until it reached this elegant form. Look at the way the light plays through those rhythmic perforations. Maybe the artist was thinking about the relationship between substance and void, presence and absence. The Longshan artist knew that the empty space can be as important as the solid, and the holes give this object an airy quality, a sense of lightness that belies its material. Like a conversation across time, I find myself wondering what kind of rituals or gatherings this cup might have been part of, what stories it could tell. It reminds us that art isn’t just about what we see, but about what we feel and what we imagine.