Scenes of Hunting and Harvest

Eastern Han Dynasty, 25 AD - 220 AD
Sichuan Provincial Museum, Chengdu

Han dynasty tombs were decorated with stamped bricks like these. The designs were mold-made and could be reused. The scene shown here, from a tomb in Chengdu, illustrates a happy afterlife where one could catch fish and birds, and reap a bounteous harvest, forever. The tomb painters of Ancient Egypt (and many other cultures) depicted similar themes in their paintings of the afterlife.