Chinese Architectural Panel Depiciting a Warrior

About five hundred years at attention, hands folded, and no sign of a shift change.

This architectural panel depicting a warrior comes from Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China, about 1500, in stone with a wood base. Armored guardians have long been carved in relief for the entrances and walls of Chinese tombs and temples. He stands facing forward in low relief, in a helmet with a topknot-like crest and a knotted scarf. Plates cover his shoulders and arms, and his hands rest together at his waist above a long coat. The stone is sandy and rose-tinted, with an uneven notch at one upper side. Forty-nine inches high.

Stand easy, one wants to say. He would not.