Male Figure Riding Horse, One of Pair

Images of mounted soldiers have formed the honor guard for Chinese tombs at least since the 3rd century B.C. Unglazed ceramic figures were often painted, and the Museum's Tang Dynasty Pair of Mounted Horsemen retain some of their original decoration. In the tombs of the Tang nobility, figures of attendants stood in small side chambers, symbolically waiting to serve the occupant of the tomb.