Tomb Guardian Creature (Zhenmushou), ca. 740 C.E., Tang dynasty (618–907). Earthenware with traces of pigment, 58.4 x 38.1 x 21.6 cm (23 x 15 x 8 1/2 in.). Purchased with a gift from Ruth and Bruce B. Dayton, B.A. 1940, 2000.57.4. Photo credit: Yale University Art Gallery

By the mid-eighth century C.E., tomb guardian creatures had become particularly ferocious, standing erect, quelling another beast, or tussling with a snake. Their appearance may have been inspired by the active deities of Esoteric Buddhism.

Art for Yale: Collecting for a New Century, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 2007), 116–17 (detail), 118, 371–72, pl. 107.