Chinese Temple Pillar with Crouching Figure

Knees up, head turned, arms locked around himself. Nobody is getting a word out of him.

This temple pillar with crouching figure is stone, from Shanxi Province, China, and dates to the 17th century. Chinese temple grounds often included carved posts and markers whose crowning figures could be protective, playful or both. The figure hunches at the top of a squared shaft, with long limbs and a round, pocked head flecked with dark spots. Arms wrap forward and toes grip the edge of the post. Eighty inches high.

Every temple needs someone who watches and says nothing.