These two painted pottery equestrian female figurines feature serene demeanors and elegant temperament, vividly restoring the daily scene of noble Tang Dynasty ladies riding horses with veiled hats.
The left one was unearthed from Tomb 187 of the Astana Tombs in Turpan in 1972 and collected by Xinjiang Museum. The right artifact was excavated from Zheng Rentai Tomb and preserved in Shaanxi History Museum. Aren't the two cultural relics highly identical?
Fuxi and Nüwa, the human ancestors in ancient Chinese mythology, have been depicted in murals or carvings inside tombs since the Han Dynasty as symbols of fertility worship. The Silk Painting of Fuxi and Nüwa (Figure 1), unearthed from the Astana Tombs in Turpan, Xinjiang, incorporates local artistic elements. The Eastern Han stone carving of the same deities (Figure 2) comes from Suining County, Xuzhou, Jiangsu. Two cultural relics gaze across time and space, presenting the same traditional Chinese tale in different artistic forms.