Antique Chinese and Japanese Porcelain collector's help and info page

GLOSSARY

Attendant

Pottery attendant figure.

Unglazed pottery attendant figure. Northern Wei dynasty (386-543 AD)
Photo © J E Nilsson collection, 2022.

One who guards, looks after, or serves an important person; a servant. Common name for the many pottery figures made to support pottery funerary processions, made to accompany the dead in the afterlife, during and around the Tang dynasty. The custom with replacing live servants began early in the Chinese history, reached it height during the Tang dynasty and was kept up during the Ming dynasty, but with big differences in style.

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