<em>Cizhou Ware Pillow in the Form of a Tiger</em>, 1182. Cizhou ware, earthenware, painted slip decoration with transparent glaze, 4 3/8 x 6 3/4 x 14 1/2 in. (11.1 x 17.1 x 36.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Asian Art Council, 1993.56. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1993.56_overall_PS9.jpg)

Cizhou Ware Pillow in the Form of a Tiger, 1182. Cizhou ware, earthenware, painted slip decoration with transparent glaze, 4 3/8 x 6 3/4 x 14 1/2 in. (11.1 x 17.1 x 36.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Asian Art Council, 1993.56. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1993.56_overall_PS9.jpg)

DOWNLOAD

Cizhou Ware Pillow in the Form of a Tiger

Asian Art

On View: Asian Galleries, West, 2nd floor (China)

Ceramic pillows were initially developed during the Sui dynasty (581–618 C.E.) and remained popular from the seventh to fourteenth century. Tigers were thought to exorcise evil, based on their association with the Daoist celestial Master Zhang, who lived during the Eastern Han dynasty (25–220 C.E.). Images of Master Zhang riding his tiger were popular in Chinese folklore and were thought to protect a home from evil spirits and drive away demons of illness. The delicately painted bird on a bamboo branch is inspired by a popular form of fan painting at the imperial court in the Jin dynasty. This pillow has a rare inscription on the bottom: “purchased for 31 wen on the thirteenth day of the first month of the ren ying year,” a date probably corresponding to 1182.

MEDIUM Cizhou ware, earthenware, painted slip decoration with transparent glaze

Place Made: China

DATES 1182

DYNASTY Jin Dynasty

PERIOD Jin Dynasty

DIMENSIONS 4 3/8 x 6 3/4 x 14 1/2 in. (11.1 x 17.1 x 36.8 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Asian Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 1993.56

CREDIT LINE Gift of the Asian Art Council

CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION A ceramic pillow takes shape of a crouching tiger; the oval panel on the tiger's back is painted with a bird perched on a branch of bamboo in dark brown. The pillow is assembled with a hollow construction, its molded form covered with a white slip. An orange brown slip is applied to the body, excluding the back, ears and eyes which remain white; black brushstrokes create the tiger’s stripes and features and the bamboo branch and bird. The pillow is then coated with a transparent glaze and fired at a high temperature. The foot is unglazed. This is a Northern Cizhou ware, made from gray stoneware and white slip applied to refine the surface. Used in summertime, this pillow for sleeping takes the form of a tiger because, according to Chinese lore, the tiger frightens away malevolent spirits. The piece is inscribed on the base: "purchased for 31 wen on the thirteenth day of the first month of ren ying:. The second character of the cyclical date on the base is slightly obscured, but appears to read a date corresponding to the Jin era, possibly 1182 or slightly earlier. (From Accession Card)

EXHIBITIONS

Arts of China

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Asian Galleries, West, 2nd floor (China)

CAPTION Cizhou Ware Pillow in the Form of a Tiger, 1182. Cizhou ware, earthenware, painted slip decoration with transparent glaze, 4 3/8 x 6 3/4 x 14 1/2 in. (11.1 x 17.1 x 36.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Asian Art Council, 1993.56. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1993.56_overall_PS9.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 1993.56_overall_PS9.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2015

"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.

RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY

You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

RECORD COMPLETENESS

Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.