A 16th Century Ming Pottery Model of an Altar Table with Food

A 16th Century Ming Pottery Altar Table with Food, North China c.1550-1600. This late Ming pottery object is very similar to one purchased by the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1996 from Robert McPherson Antiques. It is on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, it can be seen in the China Gallery on the ground floor of the Museum in the T.T. Tsui Gallery. This piece is an example of Mingqi, objects made specifically for burial, to be taken with you to the afterlife. The `Terracotta Army` is the most famous example of this type of burial object. Mingqi objects represented people, houses, farms, granaries, livestock and indeed anything important from this world that would give you comfort and status in the next. The `Terracotta Army` were made life size and on a vast scale, reflecting the importance of the first emperor of China but most Mingqi objects were small models, far smaller than the object or indeed person they were meant to represent. Mingqi ceramics were not the only goods to appear in early Chinese tombs, objects that functioned were also buried, some of these had clearly been worn or even damaged, presumably these objects were prized possessions belonging to the deceased that might have been used on a daily basis. The candle or taper stick is shown with a tiny spider plant.

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