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The bright, splashed glazes covering the forms of the camel and
musicians exemplify the well-known sancai, or three-color,
glaze of the Tang period, which has long been renowned for its
pottery sculptures and paintings of horses. The sculpture is from
the tomb of Xianyu Tianghui (660–723), an official who achieved
high military rank in the mid-eighth century, a time when the
music and performing arts flourished. Music in the early Tang
came from every part of Asia, but the most popular type was from
Kucha in Central Asia. The long tunics, cloth hats, and facial
hair of the figures riding on top of the camel indicate their
foreign origin. The short-necked lute or pipa held by one of the
seated figures is a Central Asian instrument introduced to China
in the second century. It has a shallow pear-shaped body and four
silk strings, which run from a fastener on the belly to the turning
pegs at the sides. By the eighth century, use of this instrument
had spread to Korea, Japan, and, possibly, Vietnam.
A Closer Look
Music from Central Asia provided popular entertainment throughout
the Han to Tang dynasty period. The Tang dynasty in particular
witnessed an incredible internationalism in music with as many
as ten officially recognized types of "foreign" music
being played. Apparently, the high-ranking military official Xianyu
Tinghui (660–723), for whose tomb this large statue was
made, was a fan of Central Asian music. Central Asian music is
represented here by four Central Asian musicians, including a
lute player and what looks like a musician playing a wind instrument
(seated on the right). The camel, also representative of the West,
was one of the chief means of transport across the desert portion
of the Silk Road.
Central Asian music includes a variety of diverse traditions and
styles, roughly divided between those popular among settled peoples
and types favored by pastoralists. Within the latter tradition,
the chief performer was the storyteller. Here the storyteller
is most likely the heavily bearded standing figure who appears
to be speaking and gesturing. This performer, who in actuality
could be a man or woman, recited poems and tales, often to the
accompaniment of the lute. Hence many Central Asian songs are
narrative in content. Titles of a few popular Tang-dynasty tunes
include "Floating the Dragon Boat," "The Green
Headed Duck," and "Watching the Moon in Brahman Land."
(You can find out more about this music in The Silk Road Project,
www.silkroadproject.org.)
Central Asian nomads also developed a rich instrumental tradition,
involving the lute, wind instruments, fiddles, and Jew’s
harp. Virtuostic solo performances were common, and the rhythm
(usually kept on an instrument other than a drum) was typically
asymmetric.
The distinctive style in which this statue is glazed is characteristic
of the Tang dynasty. Sancai (pronounced sahn-tseye) or "three-color"
ware is the term used for pottery decorated with white, amber,
and green or blue glazes. This bold and expressive ware was produced
almost exclusively during the Tang dynasty. In this example, the
glazes were applied with brushes and also possibly with small
ladles that allowed the glaze to run over the surface of the statue.
Notice
• The energetic quality of the faces and postures
of the performers and the camel. How does the glazing enhance
this effect?
• The attention paid to the clothing, facial features,
and beards of the men and to the camel’s saddle cloth
Consider
• How Chinese craftsmen provided tomb occupants
with such ephemeral arts as music and dance for the afterlife
• What can be deduced about Xianyu Tinghui’s personal
preferences and interests from the inclusion of this figurine
of Western people and arts in his tomb? How might a contemporary
person express his/her artistic preferences through tomb furnishings?
Visit the Met
• The Met has an extensive collection of Asian
musical instruments, including several Chinese lutes or pipa.
(Hear a pipa.)
• Currently on the Balcony of the Great Hall is a striking
sancai-glazed camel made during the Tang dynasty. It stands
in a similarly dynamic posture as the one in this exhibition
and it carries a large saddle pack decorated with a gruesome
monster face to ward off evil forces. (Figure of a Camel,
ca. late 7th–early 8th century, 1991.253.13). Another
example of a sancai-glazed vessel with Western influence is
the Phoenix-Headed
Ewer.
• The Met’s Seated
Female Musicians, a group of unglazed pottery figures,
one of whom strums a lute.
Did You Know?
The Chinese lute, called a pipa (pronounced
pee-pah), was derived from Western and Central Asian prototypes
and appeared in China during the Northern Wei dynasty. Its name
comes from the words for moving the hand upward and downwards
when strumming a stringed instrument
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