Tomb Guardian Creature (Zhenmushou) Artist: Unknown

ca. 740 C.E.

Asian Art

By appointment, Wurtele Study Center

By the mid-eighth century C.E., tomb guardian creatures had become particularly ferocious, standing erect, quelling another beast, or tussling with a snake. Their appearance may have been inspired by the active deities of Esoteric Buddhism.

Medium

Earthenware with traces of pigment

Dimensions

23 × 15 × 8 1/2 in. (58.4 × 38.1 × 21.6 cm)

Credit Line

Purchased with a gift from Ruth and Bruce B. Dayton, B.A. 1940

Accession Number

2000.57.4

Geography

China

Culture

Chinese

Period

Tang dynasty (618–907 C.E.)

Classification

Sculpture

Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance
The Schloss Collection, New York
Bibliography
  • Art for Yale: Collecting for a New Century, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 2007), 116–17 (detail), 118, 371–72, pl. 107
  • Refining the Imagination: Tradition, Collecting, and the Vassar Education, exh. cat. (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.: Vassar College, 1999), 41, no. 3, ill
Object copyright
No Copyright - United States

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