The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 20, 2024
Mortuary Figure of the Zodiac Sign: Dog (Aquarius)
500s
Location: not on view
Did You Know?
This set of mortuary figures was donated by the first woman president of the Cleveland Museum of Art's board of trustees, Emery May Holden Norweb.Description
The twelve-animal zodiac series—rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and boar—signifies a traditional Chinese concept of time structured in a cyclical order. The twelve animals are also linked to the art of fortune-telling that underlies human existence in connection with the changes of the universe. The use of the twelve zodiac animals as tomb furniture suggests they provided a cosmological structure for the afterlife.- ?–1972Mrs. R. Henry [Emery May Holden] Norweb [1895–1984], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art1972–The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Wilson, J. Keith. "Powerful Form and Potent Symbol: The Dragon in Asia." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 77, no. 8 (1990): 286-323. Reproduced: p. 305 www.jstor.org
- La voie du Tao, un autre chemin de l'Etre. Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, 75008 Paris, France (March 29-July 5, 2010).RMN/Musée Guimet (organizers). Galeries Pu Grand Palais, Paris (3/29/2010 - 7/5/2010): "La voie du Tao, un autre chemin de l'Etre", ex. cat. no. 7.1, p. 124, 126-127.CMA 1990: "Powerful Form and Potent Symbol: The Dragon in Asia," Bull., 77 (October 1990) cat. 32CMA 1975: "Traditions and Revisions," cat. #38a-d
- {{cite web|title=Mortuary Figure of the Zodiac Sign: Dog (Aquarius)|url=false|author=|year=500s|access-date=20 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1972.76.11