This image of a Tang Dynasty court lady, exceptionally well preserved, allows to appreciate the details of the costume and makeup of the women of the time.
Her ample silhouette is wrapped in a long skirt with printed floral motifs on a dark blue background, fitted very high under the bosom, a vest with a V neckline and wide floating sleeves. Striking cheek-bones, softened by her arched eyebrows, balance the bulky hairdo with its double-loop chignon.
This object is a funerary substitute - mingqi – made to be placed in the tomb of a member of the Chinese aristocracy. This type of statuette boasts a whole series of familiar expressions that reflect life under the Tang Dynasty. Crafted in a bi-valvular mould, fired at a low temperature and painted, these mingqi were lined up inside niches cut out of the walls of the hallway leading to the Tang tombs.
The origin of the fashion of plump women has been traditionally attributed to the emperor Tang Xuanzong (712-756) whose concubine Yang Guifei was somewhat overweight. If archaeology has invalidated this tradition, it was indeed after the 740s that this type of image abounded. Likenesses have been observed between the motifs painted on the dress of this statuette and those on the dresses of donors represented in some mural paintings of the Dunhuang cave no. 9, dated to between 848 and 907.
