Cleveland Museum of Art

Mortuary Figure of the Zodiac Sign: Hare (Cancer)

Date

500s

Medium

gray earthenware with traces of slip

Culture

China, Northern Wei dynasty (386-534)

Department

Chinese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

The twelve-animal zodiac series—rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and boar—signifies a traditional Chinese concept of time structured in a cyclical order. The twelve animals are also linked to the art of fortune-telling that underlies human existence in connection with the changes of the universe. The use of the twelve zodiac animals as tomb furniture suggests they provided a cosmological structure for the afterlife. At some point in the past, both right and left ears were broken off close to the figure's head.

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