Tomb Guardian with Animal Head
Unknown Artist
early 700s
Medium
glazed earthenware, sancai (three-color) ware
Dimensions
92.3 × 43.8 × 41.9 cm
Classification
Ceramic
Department
Chinese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of various donors to the department of Asian Art (by exchange)
Accession Number
2000.118.1
About this artwork
With their fierce expressions and exaggerated physical features, fantastic guardian creatures were intended to guard the entrance to a tomb, warding off evil as well as keeping the soul of the deceased from wandering. Known as "earth spirits" or qitou, this one has an animal face and a pair of antlers growing above its eyebrows; the other sports a human face with huge protruding ears and a short horn surrounded by fiery, twisting hair. Their many elongated spikes heighten the fearful intensity. ...