Minneapolis Institute of Art

Cart with Ox and Farmer

China

Date: 1st century
Medium: Bronze
Department: Asian Art
Institution: Minneapolis Institute of Art

Cast nearly two-thousand years ago, this bronze oxcart would have been placed in an upper-class tomb to serve as an auspicious emblem of plentiful harvests through all eternity. For centuries, Chinese culture has associated agriculture and the noble work of farmers with peace and prosperity. A tomb object like this would have ensured prosperity for the afterlife. Pottery bullock carts have been found in numerous tombs of the Han (206 b.c.-a.d. 220) and Tang (618-906) dynasties, but to date this is the only known bronze Han dynasty oxcart and farmer. An extraordinarily rare find, it was excavated in Sichuan province in west central China. Asia

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