Cizhou Ware Pillow in the Form of a Tiger, Jin dynasty, 1182. Cizhou ware, earthenware, painted slip decoration with transparent glaze, 11.1 x 17.1 x 36.8 cm. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Asian Art Council, 1993.56. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

Ceramic pillows were initially developed during the Sui dynasty (581–618 C.E.) and remained popular from the seventh to fourteenth century. Tigers were thought to exorcise evil, based on their association with the Daoist celestial Master Zhang, who lived during the Eastern Han dynasty (25–220 C.E.). Images of Master Zhang riding his tiger were popular in Chinese folklore and were thought to protect a home from evil spirits and drive away demons of illness. The delicately painted bird on a bamboo branch is inspired by a popular form of fan painting at the imperial court in the Jin dynasty. This pillow has a rare inscription on the bottom: “purchased for 31 wen on the thirteenth day of the first month of the ren ying year,” a date probably corresponding to 1182.