The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 18, 2025

Mortuary Figures of the Zodiac Signs

500s

China, Northern Wei dynasty

(386–534 CE)
gray earthenware with traces of slip
Overall: 22.6 cm (8 7/8 in.)
The Norweb Collection 1972.76
Location: Not on view

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.
  • ?–1972
    Mrs. R. Henry [Emery May Holden] Norweb [1895–1984], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1972–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Wilson, J. Keith. "Powerful Form and Potent Symbol: The Dragon in Asia." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 77, no. 8 (October 1990): 286–323. Reproduced: p. 305 www.jstor.org
    Delacour, Catherine. La Voie du Tao: Un Autre Chemin de l'Etre: Galeries Nationales, Grand Palais, 29 Mars-5 Juillet, 2010. Paris: Réunion des Musées Nationaux: Musée Guimet, 2010. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 126–127
    Chung, Anita. "Zodiac Heads." Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 53, no. 4 (July/August 2013): 8–9. Mentioned: pp. 8–9; Reproduced: p. 9 archive.org
    Chung, Anita. Ai Weiwei: Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads: July 27, 2013-January 26, 2014, the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2013. Reproduced: pp. 20–21, fig. 4
  • Powerful Form and Potent Symbol: The Dragon in Asia. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 24-November 25, 1990).
    Traditions and Revisions: Themes from the History of Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 24-November 16, 1975).
  • {{cite web|title=Mortuary Figures of the Zodiac Signs|url=false|author=|year=500s|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1972.76