Earthen tomb mounds, common burial practice on the Asian continent, were brought to Japan around the third century. Haniwa (clay cylinders)—at times numbering in the thousands—were placed in rows or scattered outside these tombs. Sculptors sometimes topped cylinders with figures or animals, themselves often almost abstract in aesthetic. The shape of this poignant example recalls an infant boar’s large snout, curled body, and bound limbs.
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埴輪猪
Title:Haniwa (hollow clay sculpture) of a boar
Period:Kofun period (ca. 300–710)
Date:5th century
Culture:Japan
Medium:Earthenware
Dimensions:H. 3 3/4 in. (9.5 cm); W. 2 in. (5.1 cm); L. 4 7/8 in. (12/4 cm)
Classification:Sculpture
Credit Line:The Harry G. C. Packard Collection of Asian Art, Gift of Harry G. C. Packard, and Purchase, Fletcher, Rogers, Harris Brisbane Dick, and Louis V. Bell Funds, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, and The Annenberg Fund Inc. Gift, 1975
Object Number:1975.268.418
[ Harry G. C. Packard American, Tokyo, until 1975; donated and sold to MMA].
Southampton. Parrish Art Museum. "Japanese Ceramics: From Prehistoric Times to the Present," August 5, 1978–September 24, 1978.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Art in Early Japan," 1999–2000.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces from the Permanent Collection," July 2–November 29, 2005.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "A Sensitivity to the Seasons: Spring and Summer," December 17, 2005–June 4, 2006.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "A Sensitivity to the Seasons: Autumn and Winter," June 22–September 10, 2006.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Animals, Birds, Insects, and Marine Life in Japanese Art," June 26–November 30, 2008.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Poetry and Travel in Japanese Art," December 18, 2008–May 31, 2009.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Five Thousand Years of Japanese Art: Treasures from the Packard Collection," December 17, 2009–June 10, 2010.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Landscapes in Japanese Art," June 24–November 7, 2010.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Arts of Japan Galleries," February 2–July 28, 2013.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Contemporary Japanese Ceramics in Historical Context," September 24, 2018–April 11, 2022.
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The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world.
