Female Musician Playing a Flute or Panpipe in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, July 2017

Female Musician Playing a Flute or Panpipe (Sheng?)

Period: Western Han dynasty (206 B.C.–A.D. 9)

Culture: China

Medium: Earthenware with pigment

Dimensions: H. 13 9/16 in. (34.5 cm)

Classification: Tomb Pottery

Credit Line: Lent by Xuzhou City Museum


This kneeling musician, together with the two other musicians and two dancers in this gallery, once formed part of a troupe of performers interred with a deceased prince to entertain him in the afterlife. That she raises both arms to her mouth suggests that she may have played a wind instrument. Her hands were missing at the time of excavation, but a panpipe and a type of reedpipe identified as a sheng were discovered alongside her, suggesting her role.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/640882