Horse

The pervasive appearance of small horse sculptures in clay or wood as burial offerings in Han dynasty tombs indicates the importance of this domesticated animal to daily life in Bronze-Age China, where social activity centered on agriculture, trade, and warfare against nomadic tribes. The pose of this small horse sculpture is typical—a neighing steed, mouth wide open. Like other tomb sculptures of the period, this one is made in unglazed ceramic. In the fashion of many Han horse statuary, the ears, tail, and legs were fabricated separately in wood or clay and then slotted into prepared holes to form the finished sculpture. Several features set this work apart from ordinary depictions of Han horses. Indications of particularly high quality can be seen in the finely modeled and expressive head, and in the remains of decorative detailing in cold-painted water-based pigments over a white slip (liquid clay). The horn-like extension at the top of the mane—the sculpture’s most notable and uncommon feature—denotes a much-prized superior breed called “celestial steeds,” horses that were imported from the western part of China by the Han aristocracy and royal household.