Overview

This sculptural masterpiece is a most representative colored tomb figure of a Tang Dynasty beauty. Her tall coiffeur, plump figure, and face resemble the contemporary paintings of beauties under the tree. The Pekinese held in her arms adds to the charm of this work. Red, yellow, green, blue, and black colors seem to have been applied over the white priming on the reddish brown body. Additionally, some faint traces of these colors are found on parts of her face and her garments. A cut in the coiffeur suggests that it originally held a hair-ornament. A bust with a similar hair-do has been discovered from a tomb, dated 808, in the suburbs of Xi-an.