Artwork Page for Tomb Guardian with Human Face

Details / Information for Tomb Guardian with Human Face

Tomb Guardian with Human Face

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: 88.9 x 41 x 50.8 cm (35 x 16 1/8 x 20 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of various donors to the department of Asian Art (by exchange) 2000.118.2
Public Domain
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Location
239 Chinese Ceramics and Metalwork
Print
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Did You Know?

Cobalt blue glaze used on the head and chest was imported from the Middle East.

Description

With their fierce expressions and exaggerated physical features, these two 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 sports a human face with huge protruding ears and a short horn surrounded by fiery, twisting hair; the other has an animal face and a pair of antlers growing above its eyebrows. 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 colors of green, orange, blue, and cream, of a mythical beast with a blue, human face and hooves, seated on its hind legs. It bares its teeth, eyes bulging, ears almost as big as its head, and hair sticking straight up in fire-like orange-brown tendrils. A horn spikes upwards from its head and further spikes from its shoulders and the ridge of its back.

Tomb Guardian with Human Face

early 700s

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

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