Sancai tomb guardian (one of a pair w/2004/2.132.1) with human face / Artist Unknown, China
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About this Item
Record Details
- Accession Number
- 2004/2.132.2
- Title
- Sancai tomb guardian (one of a pair w/2004/2.132.1) with human face
- Artist
- Artist Unknown, China
- Artist Nationality
- Chinese
- Medium and Support
- earthenware with sancai (three-color) glaze
- Object Creation Date
- circa 675-750
- Object Creation Place
- Asia (continent)
- China (nation)
- Creation Place 1
- Asia (continent)
- Creation Place 2
- China (nation)
- Dimensions
- 72.5 cm x 23.6 cm x 28.8 cm (28 9/16 in. x 9 5/16 in. x 11 5/16 in.)
- Century
- 7th-8th century
- Primary Object Classification
- Sculpture
- Primary Object Type
- funerary sculpture
- Secondary Object Classification
- Ceramic
- Physical Description
- Earthenware ceramic figure with tri-color glaze (in amber, cream and green) in the form of a creature with a human face
- Subject Matter
- Relics from one of the golden eras of Chinese art and culture, these fierce beast figures were always placed in pairs in tombs that often contained numerous ceramic figures of humans, animals, and supernatural creatures. Because of their position near the tomb entrance and their ferocious demeanor, such figures are thought to have been sentinels protecting the deceased from evil spirits.
- Developed during the Six Dynasties period (222 - 589), spirit beast pairs always included one figure with a human face and one with a bestial face. Such tomb guardians with canine or feline bodies, seated on their haunches with straight forelegs, also were produced in the Tang dynasty, when ceramic examples commonly were fired with colorful lead-silicate glazes known as sancai or "three-color" glaze.
- Primary Keywords
- ceramics
- earthenware
- funerary art
- funerary object
- funerary sculpture
- guardians
- sancai
- tomb
- Secondary Keywords
- art genres
- artistic concepts
- asian
- associated concepts
- buildings and the land
- ceremonial objects
- chinese
- chinese ceramics styles
- chinese styles
- chinese styles and periods
- concepts in the arts
- descriptors
- east asian
- funerary structures
- object genres
- object genres by function
- object genres by material
- objects we use
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- people (agents)
- people and culture
- people by activity
- pottery (object genre)
- sculpture
- sculpture by function
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- styles and periods
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- Rights
- If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit https://umma.umich.edu/about/services/request-image/ for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Technical Details
- Collection
- University of Michigan Museum of Art
- Image Size
- 1740 x 2874
- File Size
- 665 KB
- Record
- 2004/2.132.2
- Link to this Item
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-2004-sl-2.132.2/2004_2_132_2.jpg
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Related Links
Portfolios
- In public portfolios
IIIF
- Manifest
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:2004-SL-2.132.2:2004_2_132_2.JPG
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- Full citation
-
"Sancai tomb guardian (one of a pair w/2004/2.132.1) with human face; Artist Unknown, China." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-2004-sl-2.132.2/2004_2_132_2.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed March 28, 2024.