Pillow, 12th-13th century, Li Family Workshop, 6 1/4 x 17 1/16 x 7 3/16 in. (15.88 x 43.34 x 18.26 cm), Tzu-chou ware Stoneware with painted designs on white slip, China, 12th-13th century, This precisely painted pillow illustrates the 'Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove' (zhu lin qi xian). These 'sages' were historical figures who lived in the environs of Luoyang during the third century following the fall of the Han dynasty. In the popular mythology that developed around them, they became prototype symbols of scholarly resolve, Daoist reclusion, gentlemanly accomplishments and self-indulgence. The theme of the reclusive sage was repeated in literature and the visual arts throughout most succeeding dynasties. The scholarly subject matter would have been recognizable to an educated Chinese, the type of individual for whom this pillow was probably intended.