Distinguished by her larger size, bird-shaped cap, and flowing gown, the figure seated at the far left represents Xiwangmu, the Queen Mother of the West. Thought to rule the land of the immortals (located somewhere to the west of China), Xiwangmu played a major role in Han funerary beliefs. The structured placement of Xiwangmu and her attendants in the pavilion is typical of later Han representations of heavenly courts, which under the influence of Confucianism, began to parallel the organization of earthly ones.
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Title:Tomb Panel with Relief of Figures in a Pavilion
Period:Eastern Han dynasty (25–220)
Date:early 2nd century
Culture:China
Medium:Limestone
Dimensions:H. 31 1/4 in. (79.4 cm); W. 50 in. (127 cm); D. 8 in. (20.3 cm)
Classification:Sculpture
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1920
Object Number:20.99
[ Tonying & Co. , New York, sold to MMA]
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Fifty Centuries," November 14, 1970–June 1, 1971.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Year One: Art of the Ancient World East and West," October 3, 2000–January 14, 2001.
Bosch Reitz, S. C. "Chinese Stone Sculpture of the Han Period." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 15, no. 11 (November 1920). p. 249.
Sirén, Osvald. Kinas Konst Under Tre Artusenden I. vol. I, Stockholm: Natur och Kultur, 1942, p. 289, fig. 211.
Priest, Alan. Chinese Sculpture in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1944, p. 22, cat. no. 5, pl. 5.
Zheng Zhenduo 鄭振鐸. Weida de yishu chuantong (The Great Tradition of Chinese Art) 偉大的藝術傳統. vol. 2, Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1954, pl. 5.
Chow, Fong. "Chinese Buddhist Sculpture: Part I." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 23, no. 9 (May 1965). pp. 302, 305, fig. 4.
Masterpieces of Fifty Centuries. Exh. cat. New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1970, p. 138, cat. no. 100.
Fong, Wen C., and Hearn, Maxwell K. "The Arts of Ancient China." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s, 32, no. 2 (1974) 1974, n. p., figs. 50–51.
James C. Y. Watt. "The Arts of Ancient China." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 48, no. 1, Summer 1990. p. 39, cat. no. 47.
Elizabeth J. Milleker, ed. The Year One: Art of the Ancient World East and West. Exh. cat. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000, p. 169, fig. 120.
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