Funerary Model of a Pig Sty
Title:Funerary Model of a Pig Sty
Artist:Artist Unknown
Date:Western Han dynasty
Creation Place:Asia, China
Credit Line:Gift of Alan and Dena Naylor in memory of Thomas E. Leary
Accession Number:95.118.1a-l
The Han gentry lived in relative luxury and hoped to live equally well in the afterlife. They commissioned clay models of their mansions, granaries, mills and, in this case, even a pig sty. Housing a sow, suckling pigs, boar, roosting chickens and dog, the pen is connected to two latrines. Tiles line the tops of the walls and cover the hip roofs. Combination pig sty-latrines similar to this replica can be seen in many parts of rural China today.