Horse
5th–6th century
- Medium
- Earthenware
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Dimensions
- 79 × 84.5 × 28.5 cm (31 1/8 × 33 1/4 × 11 1/4 in.)
- Culture
- Japan
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of Asia
- Credit line
- Gift of Robert Allerton
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Little Ones profiles and older: it shows gentle subjects for the very young. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
This haniwa is a representation of a fully decorated horse, complete with saddle, stirrups, and bell ornaments on its front and back. The strap at the front has an incised chevron pattern, and the metal ring (suwari kanagu) used to gather up the leather straps at the back of a horse can be clearly seen. Excavated in Ibaragi prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, such a horse would have likely been at the front of a burial mound, in an area filled with a variety of figurines, as well as animal forms, perhaps meant to represent the possessions the deceased hoped to take with him after death. Horse breeds from the Asian continent proved to be effective militarily and quickly became symbols of wealth and power. Horses have also long been considered divine beings with special spiritual abilities.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
