Erin Byers
Art History 187
February 17, 2004

Movement Carries Motif of Storyteller

Storyteller, a clay figure just over two feet tall from the Later Han 
Dynasty, is one of the more whimsical pieces studied from this era.  
Probably a tomb relic meant to represent an entertainer in life, he 
manages to entertain even now, almost two centuries later.  Movement seems 
to be the primary principle of the piece, and with its help, a feeling of 
comedy, dance and music are evoked in the viewer.

The sculpture portrays a hunched, fat figure whose body is in the act of a 
variety of movements.  His hips swing to one side as if in a dance.  His 
face is contorted into a look of concentration; the forehead is wrinkled, 
he squints, and his tongue touches his lip.  Though most of his body is 
bent in dance, his arms remain straight and rigid as they hold a tiny drum 
and drumstick.  This change in posture at the arms implied a rigid beat of 
the drum to contrast the fluid dance.  His drum's simplicity makes us 
imagine a somewhat diminutive, plinking sound.

A few concessions were made to realism to boost the implied motion of the 
figure.  The viewer can almost see the little round man swinging about 
from side to side, and hear the rhythmic tapping of his tiny drum, all the 
more comical as its small sound is overwhelmed by the voluptuous figure.  
Dramatic, stylized curves about his temples and jaw area are not 
humanlike, but lend to the overall curvedness of the body, and give unity 
to the piece in all areas.  The regular wrinkle lines of his pants mimic 
those of his forehead.  His posture is precarious, and even his body mass 
seems exaggerated in parts-his stomach, legs and rear are all extra-round.  
These points of great mass, as they occupy the extremities of the negative 
space around the figure, throw the visual weight around to create more 
visual tension, and thus more implied movement.  Only the shoulders seem 
jutting, and again I relate this to the contrasting rigidity of his music 
versus his dance.

I have always found clay to evoke a warmer, livelier feel in a finished 
sculpture than stone.  It lends itself to a more varied texture, and a 
greater amount of curvature.  A skilled carver could have done the same in 
stone, but clay seems most appropriate for the job.  Indeed, when we 
compare the Storyteller to other Han tomb figurines, clay seems to be the 
most common medium.  Although of a typical medium, the little man differs 
in one way from most Han depictions of man.  Nudity of any sort was 
uncommon for Chinese art, traditionally, and yet the Storyteller is 
barefooted and without a shirt.  Perhaps because he was an entertainer, 
and not of the nobility, he had less of a need for modesty.  Based on the 
knowledge that the Han dynasty existed about the same time as the Roman 
Empire, I would guess that this piece is from the latest part of the Han 
dynasty, as taboos may have changed due to Western influence; perhaps 
around 200 C.E.

Chinese art seems surprisingly adventurous from its earliest periods.  
There seems to always have been a great deal of abstraction, as in the 
taotie and kui.  With the advent of sculpture, particularly of the human 
form, strict realism never seemed to take over.  Art was used as an 
offering, whether to the living or dead, and so meaning and decoration 
seem to outweigh all other driving factors in its making.  In the case of 
the Storyteller, exaggerated form and varied posture, as well as the 
general direction of line and form throughout space, worked together to 
create a mood befitting the object's purpose:  to entertain and amuse its 
viewer.

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