隋 彩繪陶持鼓伎樂女俑|Female musician with drum

Art Historical Context

This charming earthenware figurine, titled *Female Musician with Drum*, hails from China's Sui dynasty (581–), a pivotal era that reunited the fractured empire after centuries of division. Standing just 5½ inches tall, this tomb pottery—known as *mingqi*—depicts a lively female musician poised with a drum, her form painted in vibrant pigments that have endured for over 1,400 years. Crafted as a funerary offering, such figures were placed in tombs to entertain the deceased in the afterlife, reflecting beliefs in a harmonious eternal existence filled with music and revelry. The Sui period marke...