The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 24, 2024
Mortuary Figure of the Zodiac Sign: Tiger (Gemini)
500s
Location: not on view
Did You Know?
The exterior surface was originally painted with a red, yellow, and brown slip over an overall layer of white slip.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.- ?–1972Mrs. R. Henry [Emery May Holden] Norweb [1895–1984], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art1972–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 (1990): 286-323. Reproduced: p. 305 www.jstor.org
- La voie du Tao, un autre chemin de l'Etre. Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, 75008 Paris, France (March 29-July 5, 2010).RMN/Musée Guimet (organizers). Galeries Pu Grand Palais, Paris (3/29/2010 - 7/5/2010): "La voie du Tao, un autre chemin de l'Etre", ex. cat. no. 7.1, p. 124, 126-127.CMA 1990: "Powerful Form and Potent Symbol: The Dragon in Asia," Bull., 77 (October 1990) cat. 32CMA 1975: "Traditions and Revisions," cat. #38a-d
- {{cite web|title=Mortuary Figure of the Zodiac Sign: Tiger (Gemini)|url=false|author=|year=500s|access-date=24 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1972.76.3