Clay Human Figures from Cave Tomb

Item

Title: Clay Human Figures from Cave Tomb
Caption: Clay images of men from Han Dynasty cave tombs in Szechwan.
Identifier: DCG_047
Alternative Identifier: 11, 17
Description: Two clay statues, a man (left) and a woman (right), stand upon a small lace-covered table. From the size of the window behind them, they appear to be about a foot tall. The man stands with unidentified implements in both hands. He wears a floor-length gown. He has either long coiffed hair or wears a hat. He appears to be smiling. The woman is seated in a kneeling position with her left hand held up to her face. She wears the same type of robe as the man with a turban style hat.
Commentary: Graham notes (1928, 27, 30) that all of the figures found in cave tombs on the Min River were of burnt unglazed gray clay. He found that they were consistent with figures in Han Dynasty tombs of wide distribution throughout China. However, he and Thomas Torrence believed they were made by Ba and Shu Han "mixed-bloods."
Creator: Graham, David Crockett
Date Created: 1926-1928
Location: Qianwei, Sichuan
Geonames: https://www.geonames.org/1798232/qianwei-xian.html
Original Format: Glass plate
Relation: Rev. Thomas Torrance with a Han Dynasty Brick; Diagram of Interior of Cave Tombs; Cave Tomb Entrance with Chinese Man; Cave Tomb Entrance with Missionary; Opening to Multilevel Cave Tomb
Source: Whitman College and Northwest Archives
Provenance: Jean Graham Brown and Dorothy Graham Edson, daughters of DCG, and Chris Hoogendyk, grandson of DCG.
Access Rights: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Publisher: SIUE
Record Date: 2025-05-27
Contributor: Cory Willmott
Type: Still Image
References: Graham, David Crockett (1932). The Ancient Caves of Szechwan Province, China. No.2916–From the Proceedings of the United States National Museum, Vol. 80, Art. 16, pp.1-13, pls. 1-16.; Graham, David Crockett. 1928. Religion in Szechuan Province, China. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 80(4): 27-30.; Torrance, Thomas. 1930-1931. Notes on the Cave Tombs and Ancient Burial Mounds of Western Szechwan. Journal of the West China Border Research Society 4: 88-96.

Item sets: Graham Family Archives

Media: DCG_047_11_17_Pottery_Han_Tombs.jpg

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Items with "Relation: Clay Human Figures from Cave Tomb"
Title	Class
Cave Tomb Entrance with Chinese Man	Image
Cave Tomb Entrance with Missionary	Image
Diagram of Interior of Cave Tombs	Image
Opening to Multilevel Cave Tomb	Image
Rev. Thomas Torrance with a Han Dynasty Brick	Image