Tomb Brick
CultureChinese
DateWestern Han dynasty (206 B.C.E.-9 C.E.)
MediumGray pottery with painted details
DimensionsOverall: 18 × 2 1/2 × 44 5/8 inches (45.72 × 6.35 × 113.35 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust
Object number33-8/12
On View
On viewGallery Location
- 231
Collections
DescriptionCarved gray tile decorated with two red horses and three white, conventional birds and one red bird, with a geometric design on the border.Gallery LabelLarge, hollow bricks used in the construction of tombs during the Han period were decorated with auspicious themes that brought pleasure and protection to their occupants. The tiger and bird probably represent two of the mythical Animals of the Four Directions, and the blossoming tree may evoke the mythical Fusang or Mulberry Tree. Horses, imported from Central Asia, were regarded as symbols of power and valor. The voluminously robed figures on the vertical bricks can be identified as guardians, since they carry a dagger axe with an almond-shaped blade fixed to a long haft.
Yamanaka and Company, New York, until 1933;
Purchased from Yamanaka and Company by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1933.
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