Southwestern Magazine | Spring 2021

SOUTHWE S T E RN | 1 1 Kingly Splendor: Court Art and Materiality in Han China Associate Professor of Art History Allison R. Miller Columbia University Press The Western Han dynasty (202 BCE–9 CE) was a foundational period for the artistic culture of ancient China, a fact particularly visible in the era’s funerary art. Iconic forms of Chinese art such as dazzling suits of jade; cavernous, rock-cut mountain tombs; fancifully ornate wall paintings; and armies of miniature terracotta warriors were prepared for the tombs of the elite during this period. Many of the finest objects of the Western Han have been excavated from the tombs of kings, who administered local provinces on behalf of the emperors.