Beast-faced celadon tomb guardian sculpture, Yuezhou ware

This beast-faced guardian figure is one a pair (reference: Human--faced guardian, Yuezhou ware). The pair was discovered in a tomb dating to the Tang dynasty. This sculpture is a Yuezhou celadon ware.

Guardian beasts were used to guard tomb and usually appeared in pairs, one with the face of a man, one with the face of a beast. Tomb guardian beasts made of clay first appeared in the Northern Dynasties, while this one was made of porcelain colored brown under the glaze. These beasts, unearthed in Hunan Province, prove that the culture of Central Plains influenced the culture of southern China after the unification of the Sui Dynasty. The guardian with a man’s face looks good-tempered. However the one with the face of a beast, with one horn on its head and mouth wide open showing its sharp teeth, looks ferocious. Most of the tomb guardians unearthed in Central Plains (the middle part of China) were unglazed. The beasts, with a shiny pale olive green glaze and decorated with brown dots, are lifelike and powerful. They are excellent pieces of art from the Yuezhou kiln in the Tang Dynasty. Tomb Guardian Beasts were created to protect the dead from evil disturbances so that the dead could keep on enjoying luxury after life. In the Han dynasty, the wooden tomb guardian beasts were replaced by pottery ones as a result of the influence of the culture of Western Asia. Most of them were done in multiple colors, which changed to three colors in the Tang Dynasty. It is the dazzling glaze that makes them seem ferocious. Tomb guardian beasts were firstly made in the Yuezhou Kiln during the Tang Dynasty. They were almost the same as their counterparts from the central plains, which were influenced by central culture.