id: 147053
accession number: 1972.76
share license status: CC0
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1972.76
updated: 2023-03-22 14:08:03.706000
Mortuary Figures of the Zodiac Signs, 500s. China, Northern Wei dynasty (386-534). Gray earthenware with traces of slip; overall: 22.6 cm (8 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Norweb Collection 1972.76
title: Mortuary Figures of the Zodiac Signs
title in original language:
series:
series in original language:
creation date: 500s
creation date earliest: 500
creation date latest: 600
current location: 241B Arts of Ancient China
creditline: The Norweb Collection
copyright:
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culture: China, Northern Wei dynasty (386-534)
technique: gray earthenware with traces of slip
department: Chinese Art
collection: China - Northern Dynasties
type: Sculpture
find spot:
catalogue raisonne:
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CREATORS
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measurements: Overall: 22.6 cm (8 7/8 in.)
state of the work:
edition of the work:
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inscriptions:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: Traditions and Revisions: Themes from the History of Sculpture
opening date: 1975-09-24T04:00:00
Traditions and Revisions: Themes from the History of Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 24-November 16, 1975).
title: Powerful Form and Potent Symbol: The Dragon in Asia
opening date: 1990-07-24T04:00:00
Powerful Form and Potent Symbol: The Dragon in Asia. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 24-November 25, 1990).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
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PROVENANCE
Mrs. R. Henry [Emery May Holden] Norweb [1895–1984], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
date: ?–1972
footnotes:
citations:
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
date: 1972–
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fun fact:
digital description:
wall description:
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 fortunetelling 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.
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
Wilson, J. Keith. "Powerful Form and Potent Symbol: The Dragon in Asia." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 77, no. 8 (1990): 286-323.
page number: Reproduced: p. 305
url: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25161297
Delacour, Catherine. La Voie du Tao: Un Autre Chemin de l'Etre: Galeries Nationales, Grand Palais, 29 Mars-5 Juillet, 2010. Paris: Réunion des Musées Nationaux: Musée Guimet, 2010.
page number: Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 126–127
url:
Chung, Anita. Ai Weiwei: Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads: July 27, 2013-January 26, 2014, the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2013.
page number: Reproduced: pp. 20–21, fig. 4
url:
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IMAGES
web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1972.76/1972.76_web.jpg
print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1972.76/1972.76_print.jpg
full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1972.76/1972.76_full.tif