Horse Tomb Figure
Project
Tang Dynasty
Volunteer:
Date:
Grade Level: 3rd Grade
Artist: Tang Dynasty
Print Sculpture: Horse Tomb Figure
Art Vocabulary:
Reference: Art Institute
Horse (Tomb Figure)
  • Earthenware with 3-color lead glazes
  • China
  • Tang Dynasty (618-907), 1st half of the 8th century China
  • Gift of Russell Tyson, 1943.1136
Background
The ancient Chinese believed the human soul had two parts that separated at death.  One entered into the spirit world, the other stayed here on earth in the tomb.
During the Tang Dynasty (618-907, 1st half of the 8th century) whenever a rich and powerful person died he or she was buried with hundreds of clay objects called mingqi (ming-chi).  Mingqi included figures of people and animals, pots and bowls, and even models of buildings.  Mingqi provided the spirit that stayed on earth with all the things important in his or her life.
Tang Tomb Figures
The Tang Dynasty in China produced some of the world's most beautiful and significant funerary sculpture.  The quantities of figures allowed in a tomb, the tomb size and the length of the funerary procession were all regulated by the government and depended on the rank of the deceased.  Court and government officials stocked their tombs with ceramic representations of officials, servants, and entertainers, along with horses and camels bearing luxuries from the western stations of the Silk Road.
The Art Institute's Horse is a paramount example of Tang ceramic tomb sculpture.  In China, horses signified political power.  Why do you think a horse was important?  (Remember, there were no cars, trains, or planes).  Horses, called the "steeds of heaven," were symbols of weather and power.  During the Tang Dynasty, China expanded in all directions, and conquered peoples offered costly objects, including horses, as tribute.  The muscular and elegant charger suggests the overpowering might of the Tang armies.  The fact that horses are among the most impressive sculptures of this period also indicates the disposition of an aristocracy for whom accompanied horsemanship was a prerequisite.
This opulently caparisoned horse's legs are solidly planted, but he waits impatiently.  His soft lips are drawn back to bare strong white teeth as he momentarily bows his head.  So dynamic is the tension in his long, exaggerated neck and jauntily curled tail, that one expects the creature's head to spring back up at any moment, and listens for the stamping of hooves.  Clearly, the artist who designed this figure had keenly observed horses.
There is no date on this horse, so what tells us it belongs to the Tang period?  First, its decoration; second, the colors of the glaze.  Tang artists typically used what are known as "three-color" glazes, but in reality there are as many as six colors.  Look on this horse for glazes of green, ambler, cream, straw, yellow and blue.
This grand horse is 2½ feet high.  The large size tells us that the person in the tomb must have been rich and important.  The wealthier the person the larger and more beautiful were the mingqi.
No on knows the identity of the gifted artist who modeled this baked clay horse over a thousand years ago.  What can we tell about the artist?  He must have been a keen observer.  Look carefully at the horse's legs.  Notice the bone and joint structure.  Notice the position of the back legs.  A horse stands in exactly this fashion.  The artist was also unusually skillful.  The animal expresses spirit and energy as he bends to reach his foot.  His unusually long graceful neck arches as if in a royal bow to his master.  The carefully detailed main and tail, the elaborately glazed harness, and the handsome saddle are other signs of the artist's skill.
Look at the pose of the horse.  What do you think it is doing?  Look for the carefully combed mane and decorative harness.  Imagine riding the horse that was used as the model of this sculpture.
Is this horse made of solid clay?  To make mingqi like this horse, craftsmen pressed clay into molds of different parts of the body.  These parts were assembled while the clay was still soft.  After the figure had dried, it may have been fired to further harden the clay.  After drying or firing, craftsmen painted the horse with glazes, which are a mixture of tiny crystals with ground minerals added to create different colors.  When the glazed sculpture was fired, the glazes melted into a hard glass-like finish.  This mold process means that copies of a sculpture can be made, or that a number of sculptures can be made from one mold and that many examples of duplicate mingqi exist, for example, guardian figures or dancers.  However, no other horse like this has ever been found, indicating it may be one of a kind and that the mold was destroyed after it was made.  If this is indeed the case it would suggest that the Art Institute's horse came from the tomb of a very important person.
Find the area that is unglazed.  Hint:  Look for the part that is not shiny.  What color is the bare clay?
Tang Dynasty Horse Tomb Figure
This is a photo of a Chinese horse sculpture.  This horse is in the Art Institute, in downtown Chicago, where you can all go to see it.  It is 2½ feet high, which is up to the top of my leg.
  • What do you see?
  • When was it made?
  • What colors do you see?
  • What is it made of?
  • What kind of decorations are there?
Look carefully at this sculpture of a horse.  Do you find the overall shape pleasing?  Do you like the colors?  Look at the long, curved neck and neatly parted mane. Do you think the horse looked exactly like that, or did the artist alter the form to make it more expressive?  Look at the horse's eyes, nose, and mouth.  Do you think the artist was familiar with horses?  On what evidence do you base your answer?  What other details do you see?  what is the horse doing and what emotions are expressed?  What sounds might you hear?  Is motion implied?  Can you imagine the horse suddenly raising its head and looking around?  Why do you think the horse is decorated with special ornaments and trappings?  Compare this horse to others from China in Gallery 105.
Does this horse look like any other horses you have seen created by other artists?  Compare it to other horses in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.  Frederic Remington's paintings and sculptures of horses (lower level, Columbus Drive Avenue), Bernardo Mortorell's Saint George Killing the Dragon (Gallery 208), William Morris Hunt's The Horses of Anahita (Gallery 175), Raymond Duchamp-Villon's Horse (Gallery 200).  Other interesting works to look at would be anatomical studies of animals by Leonardo da Vinci or Michelangelo, paintings by horses by Franz Marc, and Pablo Picasso's Guernica horse.  How does each represent the time and culture from which it comes?
Horses and camels were used to travel along the Silk Road.  The Silk Road had a significant impact on the culture of China.  Have the students research what happened along this trade route.  Have them identify it on a map.  What were some of the influences of this route on the culture and people?  How were goods transported?  Did the route bring silk only?  What other products or ideas were transported?
Discuss technique.  How do you think this horse was made?  What materials were used to make it?  This sculpture was made from hollow molded and hand-molded sections of clay.  It was later glazed and hand-painted with the colors typically used by artists during the Tang Dynasty (brown, yellow, and green) and finally fired.  How do the materials used affect the image?  Clay is a pliable substance which allows for working in more details.  How would it look if it had been made of stone, glass, steel, fabric, or wire?  What about its size?  If it were much larger or smaller, what would be the effect?
This horse is a Tomb Sculpture and was created specifically for burial purposes.  Discuss burial rites and the belief in an afterlife.  How did these practices and beliefs affect the way in which people were buried and what was buried with them?  How do your students feel about the idea of tomb sculpture?
Discuss horses, and ask your students where they have seen them -- perhaps on a farm; at a zoo, at a race track; pulling tourist buggies; or mounted by police.  Ask your students to create a work of art where the image of a horse is used.  It can be realistic, stylized, or abstract.  It can take the form of a drawing, a sculpture, painting, collage, etc.  Students can then discuss their various interpretations and how each is an expression of the artist who created it.  Some may be for specific purposes, such as:  tomb sculpture, jewelry, illustration, etc.
Have your students write a story or poem based on the Tang horse.  It can be from the perspective of the Chinese aristocrat from whose tome it came, from the artist who created it, or from the horse itself!  Tell students to be imaginative.
Using the outline of the horse, students can create their own trappings and ornaments.  They can create a realistic surface treatment -- or fill it in with colors and patterns from their imagination.  The students can also create a background for the horse if they like -- and again, it can be realistic or fantastic.
Your students can research Chinese burial tombs from this time period, and from other cultures and times.  Compare.  what items were included in tombs and why?  Where were the tombs located?  Have the students design a tomb for a famous person from the past (such as George Washington or Joan of Arc) and list or draw items they would include in the tomb.  Students should be prepared to explain their choices.  A tomb can also be created in miniature using a shoe box.