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Dancing female tomb figure
Tang Dynasty, ca. 7th c. - 9th c.ca. 7th-9th century
11 3/8 in. x 4 1/2 in. x 3 in. (28.89 cm x 11.43 cm x 7.62 cm)
, Chinese
Object Type:
Decorative Arts, Utilitarian Objects
Creation Place:
Asia, China
Medium and Support:
earthenware and pigment
Credit Line:
Carleton College Art Collection, gift of Percy T. Watson, class of 1903
Accession Number:
1997.490
This graceful woman is a tomb figure from the Tang Dynasty of early China. She has a hand-painted and low-fired white clay body, instead of the style that prevailed a little later: a more sumptuous, highly glazed, and colorful approach. The figurine was placed in the tomb to dance away the ages and entertain the deceased. Our dancer has sufferd some breakage of her extravagant appendages, including her little feet that just tip out from underneath her robe.
This came to us from Percy Watson, Class of 1903, who was a medical missionary in China. He often sent boxes of medical implements and art to Carleton. Because of his gifts, we have some high quality ancient Asian objects in our collection.
- Laurel Bradley, Carleton College Calendar, 2005
This came to us from Percy Watson, Class of 1903, who was a medical missionary in China. He often sent boxes of medical implements and art to Carleton. Because of his gifts, we have some high quality ancient Asian objects in our collection.
- Laurel Bradley, Carleton College Calendar, 2005
Keywords
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This object has the following keywords:
ancient*,
Chinese*,
decorative arts*,
earthenware*,
sculpture (visual work)*,
Tang (Chinese style)*,
three-dimensional*
- ancient - In the discipline of art history, typically refers to the period in Europe, Asia Minor, and north Africa, prior to the fall of the western Roman Empire. The term is also sometimes applied more generally to prehistory and to early cultures in other areas of the world.
- Chinese - Describes works created by the people of the same name living in China.
- decorative arts - Refers to works that are primarily utilitarian in form or function, but that have aesthetic value provided by the design, decoration, or embellishment. They may include ceramics, furniture, and other household or utilitarian objects. They are distinct from "fine arts," which were traditionally considered to require more extensive training and were restricted to the media of painting, sculpture, drawing, and architecture.
- earthenware - Pottery with a porous body, fired below 1200 degrees Centigrade. It is not vitrified, and must be glazed to render it nonporous.
- sculpture (visual work) - Works of art in which images and forms are produced in relief, in intaglio, or in the round. It refers especially to those objects that retain the quality of being tangible objects or groups of objects. It refers particularly to art works created by carving or engraving a hard material, by molding or casting a malleable material, or by assembling parts to create a three-dimensional object. It is typically used to refer to large or medium-sized objects made of stone, wood, bronze, or another metal. Small objects are typically referred to as "carvings." As works become more diffused in space or time, or less tangible, use specific terms, such as "mail art" or "environmental art."
- Tang (Chinese style) - Refers to a Chinese dynasty of the period 618 to 907 CE, a time considered one of the most brilliant in Chinese history. China flourished as a stable, consolidated empire and the resulting prosperity and patronage created a Golden Age of Chinese painting, metalwork, ceramics, music, and poetry. Chang'an, with its masterful urban planning, remained the main Tang capital and a world center. Taizong (reigned 626-649) and Xuanzong (reigned 712-756) were important Tang rulers and patrons. Buddhism remained influential although it suffered periods of persecution during the Tang dynasty. Paintings from the caves at Dunhuang and stone pagodas such as the Great Wild Goose Pagoda (ca. 652) and the Small Wild Goose Pagoda (ca. 707) in Chang'an have survived. Monumental stone sculpture of the northern provinces displays the new tendency toward fuller, more sensual figures. This tendency also found in secular Tang sculpture, both stone and ceramic. The merging of Indian and Chinese sculpture styles is seen at the cave at Mt. Tianlong, created under the patronage of Empress Wu Zetian (reigned 690-705). Painting, which flourished during the Tang, was dominated by the secular landscape tradition. Li Sixum and Li Zhaodao, father and son, and Wang Wei are three painters' names known to us; probable copies of their work exist. Wang Wei's work, influential for later artists, was intimate and melancholy while the work of Li Sixum and Li Zhaodao features the bright greens and blues of many Tang landscapes. Chinese portrait painting, begun in the Han dynasty, was refined in the Tang by such artists as Wu Daozi. Tang ceramics include sancai earthenware figurines and vessels, typically used as tomb objects, white porcellanous wares such as the well-known Xing ware of Henan province, and the jadelike Yue celadons of Zhejiang province. The use of metal oxides in underglaze decoration was developed in Hunan and Sichuanh provinces and porcelain, although not fully exploited until later, has its origins in the Tang period. Tang decorative arts were influenced by Middle Eastern and other foreign trends during the Tang dynasty, leading to new styles in ceramics and metalwork. For instance, colorful glazed earthenware objects such as ewers and rhytons were made to resemble Persian silverwork and Persian weft patterning were introduced to Chinese textiles. China, in turn, exported its pottery, silk, and printing and paper technology. The Tang dynasty was succeeded by the Later Liang dynasty.
- three-dimensional - Having, or appearing to have, the three dimensions of length, width, and height.
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Dimensions
- overall Dimensions: 11 3/8 x 4 1/2 x 3 in. (289 x 114 x 76 mm)