Gravtegel, Gravgods, Brick

Function: Tomb brickwork, fragment from the interior of a burial chamber.
Acquisition: Bought by MFEA from the collection of the art historian Prof. Osvald Sirén (curator at the National Museum in Stockholm) in October 1925.
Why this is a masterpiece
It's of good quality craftsmanship and the motif constitutes an example of the imaginative world of the Han dynasty period, easily recognized also on, for example, stone relief work of the period. Its social origin adds to the importance, widening the perspective in a museum collection of historic Chineses material, originating from the uppermost elite.

History of the Object
This object most probably formed part of the decoration of a burial chamber for a person not belonging to the uppermost elite. It was exhibited together with other objects from Prof. Sirén's collection at Musée Cernuschi in Paris in 1924. MFEA bought it from him together with several other exhibited objects from China. (Virtual Collection of Masterpieces, http://masterpieces.asemus.museum/Default.aspx)