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Mortuary Figures of the Zodiac Signs
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
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.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineMortuary Figures of the Zodiac Signs, 500s. China, Northern Wei dynasty (386–534 CE). Gray earthenware with traces of slip; overall: 22.6 cm (8 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Norweb Collection, 1972.76
