Collections: Asian Art

Haniwa Figure of a Shamaness. Japan, Kofun period (circa 300–700), 5th–6th century. Earthenware with traces of red pigment, 18 x 8 3/4 x 7 1/2 in. (45.7 x 22.2 x 19 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Marcus, 79.278.1

In the beginning of the fourth century, a group calling themselves the Yamato migrated into Japan and Korea. The Yamato built mound tombs for their important dead, the largest tombs being for the emperors. The tomb chambers were filled with luxury goods meant to serve the deceased in the spirit world. Most of the artifacts found in Japanese Yamato tombs are nearly identical to their Korean contemporaries, the tombs of the Kaya and Silla kingdoms.

Haniwa, however, are unique to Japan. They are large, hollow, earthenware cylinders that were mostly positioned to line the edge of the tomb mound, their upper portion protruding above ground to mark the tomb. They are either plain or shaped like weapons, buildings, animals, or human figures and appear to have served as protectors and marks of status for the individual buried within. This haniwa represents a Shintō priestess who would have presided over the funeral ceremony of a Yamato chieftain. The figure is fragmentary: the arms are missing and, like almost all extant haniwa, it has been reassembled from shards.