Teach with Collections: Chinese Tomb Guardians

These spirit tomb guardians (zhenmushou) clutch snakes in their hands while subduing animal demons atop rock plinths. The human-faced beast has one taloned foot on the back of a screaming deer-demon; the lion-faced guardian is seen pouncing on a squealing, green-spotted, winged boar-demon. Painted down the front of each guardian is a central band of stylized peony flowers, with floral bands on silver ground along their sides. The forearms and ankles of both guardians, as well as the mane surrounding the lion’s face, are boldly painted to suggest fur, while the hair on the human face is executed in fine lines. Slits along the tops of both figures’ arms may originally have held flame-shaped spikes made of perishable material. The backs of both guardians are painted with red circles to resemble fur pelts. This pair of beast guardians represents the final stage of the long sculptural evolution of tomb guardians, when their function as demon-quellers became visually represented. Similar examples date to around the mid-eighth century and have been recovered primarily from the area near the Tang-dynasty capital of Chang’an (present-day Xi’an). The Princeton lion-face tomb guardian seen here is so similar in modeling, decoration, and height to a guardian in a private collection that the figures are almost certainly from the same workshop. A third lion-face guardian, in the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, is taller and more elaborate than the other two—but similar enough to suggest that it also is from the same workshop. This raises the possibility that all three figures are from tombs in the same general vicinity, or perhaps from a single tomb or mausoleum. Conversation prompts: Consider the poses and expressions of these figures in relation to their original function as tomb guardians. Describe the painted decoration of these figures. These guardians are composite figures. Which particular animal features do you notice? What is the effect of combining recognizable features to create a fantastical being?