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Equestrienne

A female figure with a round face in a full orange robe is bent almost wearily as she rides a horse. White pigment has worn away on the horse, and orange has worn from her robe, revealing a terracotta tone.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A female figure with a round face in a full orange robe is bent almost wearily as she rides a horse. White pigment has worn away on the horse, and orange has worn from her robe, revealing a terracotta tone.

Date:

Tang dynasty (618–907), mid-8th century

Artist:

China

About this artwork

Chinese ceramic figures made exclusively for burial often vividly evoke the fashions and recreational activities of their aristocratic owners. This figure sensitively captures a quiet moment in the life of a matronly equestrienne, who gently guides her horse. The animal’s powerful neck and flanks, long legs, trimmed mane, and decoratively tied tail are features distinctive to the handsome breeds that were brought to China from the empire’s northwestern frontiers as well as from sites as far west as the Aral Sea. Carefully twisted strands of clay realistically depict the fur-like texture of the animal’s saddle blanket. The woman’s full proportions—evident in the folds of her flowing, wide-sleeved robe, as well as in her plump cheeks and double chin—are enhanced by her loosely gathered coiffure, which is topped with a dangling forehead bun. Her weight, costume, and hairstyle reflect early-to-mid-eighth-century ideals of feminine beauty. Stylistically, the woman closely resembles figures that archeologists have recently unearthed from the tombs of high-status individuals that are datable to about 740.

Status

On View, Gallery 105

Department

Arts of Asia

Title

Equestrienne

Place

China (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

725 CE–750 CE

Medium

Earthenware with polychrome pigments

Dimensions

56.2 × 48.2 × 39 cm (22 1/8 × 19 × 15 3/8 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Mrs. Potter Palmer

Reference Number

1970.1073

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

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https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/35376/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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