Figure
700-750
Earthenware, decorated with coloured lead glazes
Height 73 cm
Museum no. C.880-1936

When this camel and rider were made Xi'an, the capital of the Tang dynasy (618-906) was a cosmopolitan city on the great trade route known as the Silk Road. Placing this kind of model in a grave showed that the dead person could afford the fashionable items imported by camel caravan from far-off lands.