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Mortuary Figures of the Zodiac Signs

500s
(386-534)
gray earthenware with traces of slip
Overall: 22.6 cm (8 7/8 in.)
The Norweb Collection 1972.76
Location: not on view
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These earthenware mortuary figures appear to have been made in molds.

Description

The twelve-animal zodiac series—rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and boar—signifies a traditional Chinese concept of time structured in a cyclical order. The twelve animals are also linked to the art of fortunetelling that underlies human existence in connection with the changes of the universe. The use of the twelve zodiac animals as tomb furniture suggests they provided a cosmological structure for the afterlife.
Mortuary Figures of the Zodiac Signs

Mortuary Figures of the Zodiac Signs

500s

China, Northern Wei dynasty (386-534)

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