Figure of a Dog, Eastern Han dynasty (25–220). Earthenware with green glaze. H. 21.4 cm, W. 14.3 cm, L. 27.9 cm. Gift of Stanley Herzman, in memory of Adele Herzman, 1991. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (1991.253.1).

This glazed pottery figure depicts a dog with a menacing look, marked by its raised ears, staring eyes, and tightly clenched jaws. Its studded collar, a fashionable accessory of the time, suggests that the animal was a pet with a wealthy master. During the Han dynasty, it was common practice to bury pottery models of dogs in graves, in the belief that they would keep the deceased humans company in the afterlife.