TAIOC #88 - Armored Guardian

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Armored Guardian (Wushiyong)

 

Earthenware with polychrome pigments and gilding

China

Tang dynasty (618-907), late 7th/early 8th century

 

Gift of Russel Tyson, 1943.1139

 

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His fists clenched to brandish a weapon, this dignified

guardian wears multilayered parade armor which includes

a helmet, neck- and shoulder-guards, chest- and back-plates

secured by knotted ropes, a flared shirt over tight arm-guards

or sleeves, and leg-guards under a sweeping skirt. This elabo-

rate uniform was largely hand-modeled in clay; after firing,

artisans added geometric and floral designs in colors and

gold pigment. Such unglazed, painted figures are among the

rarest and most carefully fashioned sculptures to be discov-

ered in tombs of the imperial family and high-level officials.

 

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Done