A Large Painted Striding Horse (700–800s): Art, History and Details

A Large Painted Striding Horse (700–800s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Horses were symbols of status and power in ancient China, used for military operations, mobility, and entertainment for the elite. Around the second century BCE onward, pottery horses began to be placed in tombs as status symbols and companions of the deceased in the afterworld. This horse is harnessed with a saddle and is exceptionally large. It presents a well-bred specimen that strides forcefully ahead.

Object facts

• Title: A Large Painted Striding Horse
• Date: 700–800s
• Culture: China, Tang dynasty (618–907)
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: Pottery with white slip and mineral colors
• Dimensions: Overall: 78.1 x 80 x 22.2 cm (30 3/4 x 31 1/2 x 8 3/4 in.)
• Collection: China - Tang Dynasty
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 2024.156

A detail from the museum

A groove runs over the horse’s neck from its ears to the saddle, indicating that its mane and tail were once filled with real horsehair to render the sculpture more realistic.

Collection credit

Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift

Further reading listed by the museum

• Von Spee, Clarissa. "Chinese Ceramics and Works on Paper." In The Keithley Collection at the Cleveland Museum of Art, edited by Heather Lemonedes Brown, 194–229. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2022.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.