Ancient Chinese Han / Six Dynasties Pottery Figure of a Persian Jewish Merchant

THE SILK ROAD IN CLAY — A FOREIGN MERCHANT IN SIX DYNASTIES CHINA

The Six Dynasties period (222–589 A.D.) was one of the most turbulent yet culturally transformative eras in Chinese history. Following the collapse of the Han Dynasty in 220 A.D., China fractured into competing kingdoms — the Three Kingdoms, the Jin Dynasty, and the Southern and Northern Dynasties — each vying for supremacy across a landscape of war, migration, and profound cultural exchange.

It was during this era of political fragmentation that China's connections to the wider world deepened dramatically. The Silk Road, the ancient network of trade routes linking China to Central Asia, Persia, the Mediterranean, and beyond, brought not only silk, spices, and precious metals into Chinese markets but also people — merchants, diplomats, monks, and adventurers from distant lands. Among them were Sogdians, Persians, Jews, Armenians, and other peoples from the western regions, collectively known in Chinese sources as 'Hu' (胡) — foreigners from the west.

As one Tang-dynasty history recorded: 'When they give birth to a son, they put honey on his mouth and place glue in his palms so that when he grows up, he will speak sweet words and grasp gems in his hand as if they were glued there… They are good at trading, love profit, and go abroad at the age of twelve. They are everywhere profit is to be found.' ¹ The Sogdians, in particular, controlled much of the overland trade between Central Asia and China from at least the early 4th century onward, establishing merchant colonies along the Silk Road corridor.

This remarkable terracotta figure captures one such foreigner. Standing nearly 28 centimetres tall, the figure wears a thick double-breasted coat, trousers, and shoes — garments distinctly non-Chinese in style, reflecting the clothing traditions of Central Asia and the Near East. His facial features — deep-set eyes, a prominent nose, and a full moustache — mark him unmistakably as a westerner. The tall conical hat is particularly significant: as scholars at the Musée Cernuschi in Paris have noted, 'conical felt hats can be identified as Sogdians,' characteristic of the inhabitants of ancient Sogdiana, a land extending across parts of modern-day Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. ² The hat may equally identify him as a Persian, a Jew, or an Armenian — all peoples known to have travelled the Silk Road and established communities in Chinese cities during this period.

The tradition of placing terracotta figures (ming-chi, 明器) in tombs stretches back thousands of years in Chinese culture. These figures were not mere decorations. They were 'spirit utensils' — objects believed to serve the deceased in the afterlife, providing companionship, protection, and the comforts of daily life beyond death. The inclusion of a foreign merchant figure in a Chinese tomb speaks volumes about the status and importance of international trade in Six Dynasties society. It suggests that the tomb's occupant was a person of wealth and cosmopolitan taste, someone who valued the exotic goods and cultural connections that foreign merchants brought. Comparable figures of foreign merchants can be found in the collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (inv. F1929-6-441), the Musée Guimet in Paris, and the Musée Cernuschi in Paris. ³

This particular figure comes from the legendary collection of Ezekiel Schloss (1906–1994), one of the most respected names in the field of ancient Chinese ming-chi art. Born in Latvia, Schloss emigrated to the United States in 1940 and became an accomplished cartoonist at the New York Times. But his true passion was ancient Chinese terracotta sculpture. Together with his wife Lillian, he assembled one of the finest private collections of Chinese funerary figures ever formed — not merely accumulating objects, but building what scholars have described as 'a truly educated collection of art.' Schloss was immersed in Chinese ming-chi art and only collected beautiful examples of specific types, as well as the unusual, the charming, and the rare. His landmark two-volume publication, 'Ancient Chinese Ceramic Sculpture from Han through T'ang' (Castle Publishing Co., Stamford, 1977, limited edition), remains a standard reference in the field. ⁴

The Schloss collection was the subject of a major touring exhibition, 'Seeking Immortality: Chinese Tomb Sculpture from the Schloss Collection,' organised by the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art in Santa Ana, California (October 1996 – March 1997), and subsequently shown at the Taft Museum in Cincinnati (September – November 1997) and the Frank H. McClung Museum in Knoxville (December 1997 – March 1998). ⁵ This figure bears the inventory number 100, corresponding to its catalogue number in those exhibitions — a direct, documented link to one of the most important private collections of its kind.

The figure's head has been professionally reattached — a common condition for terracotta figures of this age — and restored by the Piffaretti Manufaktur in Lucerne, Switzerland. The authentic ancient surface and subtle traces of original pigment are preserved, hinting at the vibrant polychrome decoration these figures once displayed.

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¹ Cited in J. Bellemare and J. A. Lerner, 'The Sogdians Abroad: Life and Death in China,' Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art. ² Musée Cernuschi, Paris, collection notes on Sogdian merchant figures. ³ Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Sallie Crozer Hilprecht Collection, 1929, inv. F1929-6-441; Musée Guimet, Paris; Musée Cernuschi, Paris. ⁴ E. Schloss, Ancient Chinese Ceramic Sculpture from Han through T'ang, 2 vols. (Castle Publishing Co., Stamford, 1977). ⁵ Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, Seeking Immortality: Chinese Tomb Sculpture from the Schloss Collection (Santa Ana, 1996), ISBN 978-0963395955.