The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 16, 2024

Court Lady with Tall Headdress:  Tomb Figurine

Court Lady with Tall Headdress: Tomb Figurine

c. 700–750

Did You Know?

Earthenware figurines like this one were placed in the tombs to accompany the deceased to the afterlife.

Description

There was prosperity and flourishing culture in the Tang dynasty. Their capital was at Chang’an, which is present-day Xi’an. There was great interaction with other cultures through trade, diplomacy, and artistic exchange along the Silk Road. Archaeological discoveries of earthenware figures, like this slender woman with a tall headdress, give a vivid picture of everyday life in 8th-century China.

Aristocratic women had a high degree of freedom during the Tang dynasty, especially in contrast with the Neo-Confucianism of the later Song dynasty. Women were well educated and active; paintings exist of Tang women riding horses and participating in hunts and warfare, in addition to doing more courtly, traditionally feminine activities like dancing or making music.
  • ?–1983
    (Osborne I. Hauge [1913–2004] and Victor Lloyd Hauge [1919–2013], Falls Church, VA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1983–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Turner, Evan H. “Year in Review for 1983.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 71, no. 2 (1984): 38–79. Mentioned: p. 77, no. 244 www.jstor.org
  • The Year in Review for 1983. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 22-April 8, 1984).
  • {{cite web|title=Court Lady with Tall Headdress: Tomb Figurine|url=false|author=|year=c. 700–750|access-date=16 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1983.24