Photographed by Scott Wolff. Captured from a digital file. Color corrected by Pat Cagney.

Tomb Figure of a Horse

Artist Unknown

CultureChinese

Date617-906 AD

MediumFired earthenware with slip

DimensionsOverall: 13 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 11 1/2 in. (34.3 x 11.4 x 29.2 cm)

Credit LineGift of Mark A. Clark in honor of Jake Cameron Boyce

Object number2004.8

Collections

Asian Art

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 106

DescriptionThis is a fired earthenware tomb figure of a horse with left front leg raised, coated in a white clay slip, with painted details around the face and hooves and traces of paint elsewhere on the body. The slot for the horse's mane and the hole for its tail would originally have held real horsehair.

Label TextTomb Figure of a Horse Chinese, Tang Dynasty 617–906 c.e. Fired earthenware with slip The lean, fast horses imported from Fergana in present-day Uzbekistan were the sports cars of their day and key to military strength in the Tang dynasty. Prized for their speed and beauty, they also became apt subjects as miniature earthenware tomb attendants. The realism of this proudly prancing horse would have been accentuated by a mane and tail made of real horsehair inserted into empty holes. Gift of Mark. A. Clark, in honor of Jake Cameron Boyce 2004.8ProvenanceDug up from a Tomb, China, 2000; TK Asian Antiquities, Williamsburg, Va., 2001; Mark A. Clark, 201-2004; Gift of Mark A. Clark in honor of Jake Cameron Boyce, 2004.