Artwork Page for Mortuary Figures of the Zodiac Signs

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Mortuary Figures of the Zodiac Signs

500s

China, Northern Wei dynasty

(386–534 CE)
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Medium
gray earthenware with traces of slip
Measurements
Overall: 22.6 cm (8 7/8 in.)
Credit Line
The Norweb Collection 1972.76
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Did You Know?

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 fortune-telling 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

500s

China, Northern Wei dynasty (386–534 CE)

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