Female Figurine

This female burial figurine (yong) is depicted wearing multilayered garments covered by an overcoat with a long skirt and long sleeves, with her hands joined together inside the sleeves at abdomen height, and standing in a slightly crouched and stooped pose. Her hair and headwear rise up in a square arrangement, and strands of hair hang down on both sides. Her face is plump, the lines of her upslanting eyebrows converge at the bridge of her nose, and around this are carved slit eyes and a small mouth. The statue may have been buried in the grave of an aristocrat or other affluent person as the image of a female attendant who would serve the deceased in the afterlife. Between the chubby cheeks and pretty chin, and enhanced by the soft look and feel of the wood overall, a gentle smile seems to play on her pursed mouth.