Wrestler

CultureChinese

DateNorthern Wei (386-534 C.E.)-Western Wei dynasty (535-556 C.E.)

MediumEarthenware with traces of unfired pigments

DimensionsOverall: 11 1/2 × 10 1/2 × 4 inches (29.21 × 26.67 × 10.16 cm)

Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust

Object number34-45/2 A,B

On View

On view

Gallery Location

Collections

East Asian Art

Terms

DescriptionMale figure standing in acrobatic posture, with arms upraised, fingers clenched, legs spread wide apart and knees bent. Head made separately and detachable from neck. Pointed beard, thick eyebrows, and hair tied into a knot on the top of the head. Costume: trousers worn with short-sleeved jacket with collar, thick belt with ends of robe pulled through and held in place by the belt.Provenance

Provenance

Purchased on the Chinese art market, through Laurence Sickman, by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1934 [1].

NOTES:

[1] This object is included on a list of objects received from Sickman by the Nelson-Atkins on May 3, 1934. Nelson-Atkins Archives, Sickman Miscellaneous, box 3, Receipts - 1934.

Published References

J. G. Mahler, The Westerns Among the Figurines of the T’ang Dynasty (Rome: 1959), pl. xxxii, a, b, c (repro.).

Ross E. Taggart, George L. McKenna, and Marc F. Wilson, eds., Handbook of the Collections in The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, Kansas City, Missouri, vol. II, Art of the Orient. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1973), 78 (repro.).

Ellen R. Goheen, The Collections of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1988), 152-153, no. 81 (repro.).

Roger Ward and Patricia J. Fidler, eds., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection (New York: Hudson Hills Press, in association with Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1993), 288 (repro.).

Deborah Emont Scott, ed., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection, 7th ed. (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2008), 311, no. 91 (repro.).

Information about a particular artwork or image, including provenance information, is based upon historic information and may not be currently accurate or complete. Research on artwork and images is an ongoing process, and the information about a particular artwork or image may not reflect the most current information available to the Museum. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about a particular artwork or image, please e-mail provenance@nelson-atkins.org.