Collection Online as of December 8, 2023

Mortuary Figure of the Zodiac Sign: Dragon (Leo)

500s

Part of a set. See all set records

China, Northern Wei dynasty

(386-534)

Gray earthenware with traces of slip

Overall: 22.6 cm (8 7/8 in.)

The Norweb Collection 1972.76.5

Location

not on view

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.

Provenance

?–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

Citations

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, 320 www.jstor.org

Exhibition history

CMA 1975: "Traditions and Revisions," cat. #38a-d

CMA 1990: "Powerful Form and Potent Symbol: The Dragon in Asia," Bull., 77 (October 1990) cat. 32

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.

La voie du Tao, un autre chemin de l'Etre. Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, 75008 Paris, France (March 29-July 5, 2010).