隋 陶持琵琶女楽伎俑|Female musician with a lute

Art Historical Context

This charming earthenware figurine, titled *Female Musician with a Lute hails from China's Sui (581–618), pivotal era that reunified the fractured empire after centuries of division. Standing just 9 inches tall, this tomb pottery—known as *mingqi*—depicts a graceful female musician holding a pipa, a pear-shaped lute central to ancient Chinese music. Such figures were crafted to accompany the deceased into the afterlife, providing eternal entertainment and reflecting the elite's love for refined arts. Made from earthenware with faint traces of original pigment, the sculpture showcases the Sui ...