Brick (fragment), one of a pair

This piece, part of a five-piece series in the collection, consists of fragments from walls of the Xiuding temple in the Anyang district of Henan (WW 1979.9: 7-16; Henan Inst. of Cultural Relics 1983: pl. 13, 29-30). The monument, first completed in the fifth century, had by the thirteenth century undergone several cycles of destruction and reconstruction. A thermoluminescence test on these bricks resulted in a date corresponding to the Tang dynasty. Of seventy-two designs presenting humans, animals, flowers, and mythological creatures, this piece best exemplifies the powerful sculpture of the High Tang period. These lozenge-shaped bricks constituted the outer wall of the temple.