Pair of Seated Figures Playing Liubo in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, February 2008

Pair of Seated Figures Playing Liubo
Han dynasty (206 BC- 220 AD), 1st century BC- 1st century AD
Earthenware with pigment

Accession # 1992.165.23

Liubo Board and Pieces
Han dynasty (206 BC- 220 AD), 1st century BC- 1st century AD
Earthenware with pigment; bone

Accession # 1994.285

A popular game in the Han dynasty, liubo involves two players who gamble using dice, counters, gaming pieces, and a marked board. The pottery figures exhibited in this case, together with the daily utensils, architectural models, and luxury goods exhibited in the other cases in this gallery, were used as tomb furnishings in ancient China. The liubo players, who are depicted at a dramatic moment in a heated game, represent Han-dynasty people's leisure activities as well as their desired life in the other world.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.