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Woman Holding Plum Blossoms
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
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 example of a plump and flamboyant lady is a common type found in mid-8th-century tombs, especially in the cosmopolitan city of Xi'an. 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.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineWoman Holding Plum Blossoms, mid-700s. North China, Tang dynasty (618-907). Earthenware covered in white slip with traces of pigment; overall: 43.8 x 16.5 x 12.2 cm (17 1/4 x 6 1/2 x 4 13/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 1987.13
