The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 27, 2023

Horse

late 600s–800

China, probably Henan province, Tang dynasty

(618-907)

Glazed earthenware, sancai (three-color) ware

Overall: 76.8 cm (30 1/4 in.)

Anonymous Gift 1955.295

Location

239 Chinese Ceramics and Metalwork

Fun Fact

<em>Sancai</em> (three-color) glazes in green, amber, and transparent white show the high social status of the tomb’s occupant.

Description

This ceramic horse was part of a set of figures depicting a procession, all of which was included in the tomb of a person of high rank. In ancient China tombs were equipped with all the items it was thought to be needed in the afterlife—including horses, as an essential mode of transportation.

Provenance
M. Hosokawa, Tokyo, Japan
?–1955
(Howard Hollis and Co., Cleveland, OH, sold to Mrs. Dudley S. [Elizabeth Bingham] Blossom [1881–1970] as gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1955–
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 829 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 251 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 251 archive.org
Nelson, Glenn C. Ceramics: A Potter's Handbook. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1971. Reproduced: color pl. 1
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 331 archive.org
Lee, Sherman E. A History of Far Eastern Art. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1982. Mentioned: p. 2853; Reproduced: p. 279, color pl. 23
Neils, Jenifer. The World of Ceramics: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Museum in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1982. Mentioned: cat. no. 98, p. 93
Neils, Jenifer. “The Twain Shall Meet.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 72, no. 6, 1985, pp. 326–359. Reproduced: p. 347, fig. 40 www.jstor.org
Exhibition history

The World of Ceramics: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 30-September 5, 1982).

Traditions and Revisions: Themes from the History of Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 24-November 16, 1975).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1955.295