Period:Tang dynasty (618–907)
Date:8th century
Culture:China
Medium:Earthenware with white slip
Dimensions:Each approx. H. 12 in. (30.5 cm); W. 4 in. (10.2 cm)
Classification:Ceramics
Credit Line:Gift of Charlotte C. Weber, 2000
Accession Number:2000.662.7a–l
Groups of these animals, which represent the Chinese calendar ’ s twelve-year cycle, first appeared in the third century B.C. As burial practices became more elaborate, pottery figures of the creatures wearing official robes became popular tomb offerings, presumably as symbols of renewal and regeneration. These figures were once painted with colorful pigments, but only the white slip, which usually served as a base for decoration, has survived.