Artwork Page for Tomb Guardian with Animal Head

Details / Information for Tomb Guardian with Animal Head

Tomb Guardian with Animal Head

鎮墓獸

early 700s

China, probably Shaanxi province, Xi'an, Tang dynasty

(618-907)
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Medium
glazed earthenware, sancai (three-color) ware
Measurements
Overall: 92.3 x 43.8 x 41.9 cm (36 5/16 x 17 1/4 x 16 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of various donors to the department of Asian Art (by exchange) 2000.118.1
Public Domain
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Location
239 Chinese Ceramics and Metalwork
Print
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Did You Know?

Sancai (three-color) glazes in green, amber, and transparent white, plus expensive cobalt blue glaze, show the high social status of the tomb’s occupant.

Description

With their fierce expressions and exaggerated physical features, fantastic guardian creatures were intended to guard the entrance to a tomb, warding off evil as well as keeping the soul of the deceased from wandering. Known as "earth spirits" or qitou, this one has an animal face and a pair of antlers growing above its eyebrows; the other sports a human face with huge protruding ears and a short horn surrounded by fiery, twisting hair. Their many elongated spikes heighten the fearful intensity.

Before tomb sculptures were placed in the tomb, they were carried through the streets in a funerary procession. Funerary gifts provided the deceased with means for the afterlife. They were also an expression of filial piety and demonstrated the wealth and power of the descendants.
An earthenware sculpture, glazed in green, orange, blue, and cream, depicts a mythical beast with a blue animal face and claws, seated on its hind legs. Its mouth is open, baring its fangs. Antlers spike upward from its head and further spikes from its shoulders and the ridge of its back.

Tomb Guardian with Animal Head

early 700s

China, probably Shaanxi province, Xi'an, Tang dynasty (618-907)

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