SANJIESAN LORE / Artifacts and interpretation
Draw surviving fragments and an invented reconstruction differently
A complete reconstruction can conceal how little of an object is actually present. The National Archaeological Museum’s vase project distinguishes surviving fragments and proposed positions in a digital model. For an original artifact illustration, use a similarly clear distinction without copying the museum object or presenting your drawing as archaeological research.
Draw only what survives first
Invent a broken vessel with a handle fragment, part of a rim and one painted surface. Draw those pieces before deciding on a full silhouette. Indicate which edges join in your fictional example and which do not. A decorative mark on one fragment does not automatically establish a repeating pattern around the whole object. Give the reader a way to see the limit of the evidence.
Offer one bounded reconstruction
Add a proposed complete form using a different line treatment or a separate panel with a clear label. State which feature supports the choice and where alternatives remain. Keep uncertainty readable when the image is small; a barely visible tint is not enough if it disappears in print. The aim is a useful in-world research drawing, not a promise that the first attractive silhouette must be correct.
Use the difference in a scene
Write a viewer mistaking the reconstructed part for a surviving surface. Let another person explain the distinction and decide whether that changes the interpretation of a clue. Preserve separate reference art if the author already knows the object’s actual original form. An in-world scholar may be uncertain while production still needs a consistent answer; those are two different information needs, not a contradiction to hide.