Comical caricatures of performers were especially popular in
Szechwan Province during the Eastern Han dynasty (A.D. 25-220).
Used as tomb figurines, they provided entertainment in the
afterlife, and an entire troupe might be interred with the
deceased. Drummers like the one represented here specialized in
a kind of storytelling that was part spoken, part sung. This one
sings merrily, his brow wrinkled in laughter. His heavy body
suggests he may be a dwarf. Performers of similar build appear
on Han tomb tiles decorated with scenes of juggling and sword
balancing. Although ceramic Han tomb figures were mass-produced,
this type is surely one of the most engaging and expressive
examples of Han dynasty figural art.