Tricolor Pottery Figurine of the Heavenly King

Period:Tang Dynasty (618-907)
Height: 118 cm, Width: 50 cm

The figurine wears a helmet, atop which perches a bird with unfurled feathers. He has furrowed eyebrows, glaring eyes, an open mouth, and bared teeth. His right hand rests on his hip, and his left hand makes a fist in the air. He is adorned in a type of ancient Chinese armor known as “bright-light” armor. Dragon figures shield his upper arms. He also wears a skirt belted with a front plate and shin guards. He stands atop an ox reclining on a mountain-shaped plinth. The exterior is brightly glazed in primarily green, brown, and white tones.
The Heavenly King is one of the figurines comprising the burial assemblages during the Tang dynasty. Together with the guardian beasts, the Heavenly King figurines—usually in a pair—were placed in front of the tomb path or the chamber, behind the guardian beasts. Collectively they were called the “four deities” in extant ancient records.