Haniwa Figure of a Female
Unknown Artist
500s
Medium
earthenware with traces of pigment
Dimensions
{"overall":{"height":0.584,"width":0.305}}
Classification
Sculpture
Department
Japanese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
James Parmelee Fund by exchange
Accession Number
1962.39
About this artwork
Figures in a variety of dress including military and ceremonial garb start to appear on Japanese earthen mounded tombs called old mounds (kofun) from the 400s to 500s CE. This fragment depicts a woman with red triangles on her face and wearing jewelry. Archaeologists speculate that the facial markings had a ritual or symbolic function, perhaps indicating she is a female shaman. Many figures of this kind have been found in digs in the Kanto region of eastern Japan. We can only guess at the meanin...