A Terracotta Figure of a Bactrian Camel

Tang Dynasty, 618-906 CETerracotta figure depicting a Bactrian camel, reflecting the growing importance of overland trade and contact with the Western Regions during the Tang Dynasty. Camel figures of this type were created as mingqi funerary objects and placed within tombs to symbolize wealth, mobility, and prosperity in the afterlife. The sculpture embodies the Tang court’s expanding engagement with early Silk Road networks, where camels played a vital role in transporting goods across Central Asia. Its simplified yet expressive modeling required considerable skill. It is of an unusual, almost neolithic design, with a burnished clay body, split hooves, and double humps.