Mortuary Figurine
Object Number:
C467
Current Location:
China Gallery
Culture:
Chinese
Provenience:
China
Period:
Tang Dynasty
Date Made:
Tang Dynasty
Early Date:
618
Late Date:
906
Section:
Asian
Materials:
Clay
Glaze
Technique:
Three Color Glaze
Glazed
Fired
Iconography:
Horse
Description:
Mortuary figure. Glazed pottery figure of a horse with green saddle cloth. Symbolizing status and power, this horse figurine would have been placed with other ceremonial and everyday objects in a tomb. In the Tang Dynasty, the saddled horse was more common than the ox cart which in earlier periods symbolized a means of transport to the afterlife. The tri-color glaze, known as sancai, was more expensive then plain terra cotta. It should indicate that the horses were made for an aristocratic occupant. Often mass-produced using a piece-mold technique, horses were slightly altered through adjustments in the neck and legs. Three color ware. Amber with cream mane. C461 through C468 is a set.
Credit Line:
Purchased from C. T. Loo
Current & Past Exhibitions:
Chinese Rotunda (1968)
Bibliography:
[Article] Fernald, H. E. 1925. Mortuary Figures of the T'ang Dynasty. The Museum Journal. Volume XVI (No. 3): 153-181. : Page/Fig./Plate: pg. 163
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