Haniwa Horse
Unknown Artist
400s–500s CE
Medium
earthenware with traces of pigment
Dimensions
{"overall":{"height":0.597,"width":0.66}}
Classification
Sculpture
Department
Japanese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
The Norweb Collection
Accession Number
1957.27
About this artwork
This horse’s tack, with its round bells, resembles saddlery in fashion in Korea during the 400s–500s CE. Concurrent with mass migration from the Korean Peninsula, tombs covered with large earthen mounds similar to those on the Asian continent began to appear in Japan around the year 300 CE. Called “old mounds” (kofun), their surfaces were covered with hollow clay cylinders (haniwa). Sculptures of animals, buildings, and finally human figures followed, developing over the ensuing three centuries.