Grave goods were an important status symbol in ancient China, so the affluent and important would be accompanied in their travels through the afterlife with numerous depictions of people, items and animals. Statuettes of warriors, such as this fine example, would have been placed in the tomb to assist and protect the deceased in the afterlife. Interestingly, long shields, as seen on this statuette, became popular in ancient China from the Han period. Similar statuettes have been also recovered from the Eastern Wu Kingdom (222-280 AD) and Jin Dynasty (266-420 AD).
To discover more about Chinese terracotta statuettes, please visit our relevant blog post: Terracotta Tomb Attendants.
