Lady in waiting Han

This funeral substitute (yong 俑) female tall, is distinguished by its elegant bearing. If we refer to ancient and medieval sources, the character yong was originally reserved for anthropomorphic funerary statuettes.

Under the veil formed by the burial ground, we can make out a long dress whose left side (the main one) wraps around the right side while gradually decreasing in width (quju 曲裾). This cut, inherited from the Warring States period (453-222 BC), was, under the Western Han dynasty, mainly used for ceremonial clothing.

Three of the perforations visible on the obverse were intended for accessories: hairpins and clasp, to the right of the bust. She held in her hands, concealed in the sleeves out of politeness, an element that has now disappeared.

The cut of the dress, similar to that worn by the body of the Marchioness of Dai 軑 (died between, approximately, 168 and 145 BC), invites to attribute this sculpture to the 1^time half of 2^rd century BC J.-C.

Cartel:

Women
Gray terracotta coated with a cold painted white engobe, North China
Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-9 AD), probably 1st half of 2nd c. av. J.-C.
H.67 cm x W.26 cm
MC 9830

Gift of the Society of Friends of the Cernuschi Museum, 1990

Photo credit :
© Paris Museums / Cernuschi Museum

Anonymous, Female Character (Username), -0206. Brown and red ink and highlights. Cernuschi Museum, Museum of Asian Arts of the City of Paris.

Anonymous, Female Character (Username), -0206. Brown and red ink and highlights. Cernuschi Museum, Museum of Asian Arts of the City of Paris.

Anonymous, Female Character (Username), -0206. Brown and red ink and highlights. Cernuschi Museum, Museum of Asian Arts of the City of Paris.