Details:
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The slender figure, his body leaning back, dons a tunic beneath a shield-like bib over the chest, the long sleeves covering the hands and cascading above loose pantaloons tied at the knees, the belt at the waist buckled from behind. The uniform, including the typical official’s flat cap, accords with figures recovered from 6th century Northern Wei tombs and those held today in private collections and museums. Examples excavated from such tombs are illustrated here (figs. 1-5).
Also most notable are the enchanting, delicate, almost childlike facial features of the present and related figures, with a subtle hint of a smile probably exclusive to Northern Wei figures, religious and secular alike. The distinctive sculptural style of these figures was created by the end of the 5th century when the Turkic Xianbei dynasts moved their capital to the old city of Luoyang in Henan and continued to be the predominant figural style in their arts until the end of their rule in 534.
Fig. 1: Earthenware official, Northern Wei, early 6th c.,
from the tomb of Yuan Shao (d. 520) and his wife (d. 528),
Luoyang, Henan, after Kaogu, 1973:4, fig. 4:2, p. 219.
Fig. 2: Earthenware official, Northern Wei, early 6th c.,
from the tomb of Yuan Shao (d. 520) and his wife (d. 528),
Luoyang, Henan, after Kaogu, 1973:4, fig. 5:1-2, p. 220.
Fig. 3: Earthenware official, Northern Wei, early 6th c.,
from the tomb of Wang Wen (d. 532), Beichen village,
Luoyang, Henan, after Wenwu, 1995:8, color plate I,
after p. 16.
Fig. 4: Earthenware official, Northern Wei, early 6th c.,
from the tomb of Wang Wen (d. 532), Beichen village,
Luoyang, Henan, after Wenwu, 1995:8, drawing, p. 29,
fig. 4:3 (three images].
Fig. 5: Earthenware official, Northern Wei, early 6th c.,
from a tomb in Yanshi, Henan, after Kaogu, 1993:5,
fig. 5:2, p. 418.