Cleveland Museum of Art

Court Lady with High Chignon

Date

c. 700–750

Medium

earthenware with polychromy

Culture

North China, Tang dynasty (618-907)

Department

Chinese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Tang figurines placed in the tombs give a vivid picture of everyday life. Images of elegant ladies in various hairstyles, costumes, and activities suggest the fashion of the time. This slender court woman's clasped hands are covered by long, narrow sleeves. Her v-neck blouse is tucked into a floor-length skirt with empire waistband. A long stole drawn from the bodice and across the back falls between her wrists. Her skirt is painted with thin red stripes, the waistband with double red circles, and the stole with white rosettes in unfired pigments. Her black hair is piled into high angled chignon. Together with other figurines—court officials, musicians, dancers, hunters, foreign travelers, horses, camels, guardian warriors, and guardian animals—such tomb sculptures accompanied the deceased in the afterlife. Tang aristocratic women had a high degree of freedom, especially in contrast with the Neo-Confucianism of the later Song dynasty.

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