Page 500 - The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People’s Republic of China

areas long before the earliest artistic or literary
references to them in China; that these sets first
appear in China during the Toba-ruled state of
Northern Wei, moreover, lends additional support
to the theory of the foreign origins of zodiacal sets.
This group, however, shows little evidence of
foreign influence. Formed of a red clay covered with
white slip, the figures retain only a few traces of
their original paint. Each figure stands on a base
that appears to represent stone. The heads of the
individual pieces are carefully worked and elegantly
capture the physical and presumed psychological
characteristics of the animals they are meant to
portray. Each wears a heavy robe with long full
sleeves, which completely hide the figures' crossed
hands; the shoes of a few of the figures peek out
from beneath their robes. Such garments, typical
of conservative Chinese dress, contrast markedly
with the tight-fitting garments of the musicians
and hunters (cats. 170,171). M K

499 | TANG P O T T E R Y F I G U R E S