page_title: Sculpture of Mongolia
section_title: Sculpture of the Mongol Empire
hierarchical_section_title: Sculpture of Mongolia / Sculpture of the Mongol Empire
caption_attribution_description: English: The Silver Tree at the court of Karakorum, after the Flemish William of Rubruck, a mechanical aïrag fountain tree built by Parisian silversmith Guillaume Bouchier. Français&#160;: L'arbre à aïrag de Karakorum. D'après le flamand Guillaume de Rubrouck, cette fontaine animée, d'où coule l'aïrag aurait été créé par un artisan parisien, également prénommé Guillaume, fait prisonnier avec sa femme, sur les terres slaves.
context_page_description: Works of sculpture have been crafted in Mongolia since prehistoric times. Bronze Age megaliths known as deer stones depicted deer in an ornamented setting. Statues of warriors, the Kurgan stelae, were created under Turkic rule from the 6th century CE, and later started to bear inscriptions in a phonetic script, the Orkhon script, which were deciphered only in the 1980s. Warrior statues continued under the Uighurs, who also made a gold image of the Buddha. Many examples of sculptures of people and animals, as well as carved stelae, are known from the Mongol Empire, especially from its capital Karakorum.
  The spread of Buddhism in Mongolia from the 16th century was associated with a cultural revival which included the work of the sculptor Zanabazar, famous for his human forms in bronze depicting figures from the Buddhist tradition. Also known from this period are the ornate masks used in the mystic Cham dances.
  A sharp change in Mongolian art followed the revolution of 1921, after which the country remained under strong Soviet influence. Buddhism lost its hold, and much sculpture in public places adopted the Socialist realist style.
context_section_description: The development of sculpture of imperial Mongol times has to be judged by the few but highly expressive samples of stone men, stele and decorative architectural elements. The stone figures in Sükhbaatar aimag are distinguished by their headdresses, clothes, ornaments, postures and seats. Important artifacts are the stele called Genghis Khan’s Script on Stone (also "the Stele of Yisüngge") documenting the achievement of Yesunke Mergen’s art of archery, and the obelisk dedicated to Möngke Khaan. Such stele stood on the back of stone tortoises similar to those found around the capital of the Mongol Empire Karakorum.
  Archeological excavations of ancient Karakorum unearthed a wealth of heritage of the art of the period of the Mongol Empire. Palaces and temples were decorated with sculptures. The corners of the roofs were decorated with heads of winged dragons. A large number of figurines of creatures similar to phoenixes and chimeras as well as statuettes of humans in Buddhist clothing have been unearthed. One of the fragments of sculptures of women found in the ruins of Karakorum depicts a woman with big eyes, tender smile, half-open lips and hairpins in the form of flowers, and a happy expression reminiscent of the traditional Uighur school. The fragment of another statuette, even better proportioned, is that of a woman with regular Mongolian-type features.
   Based on the records of  William of Rubruck, most scholars maintain that in front of the palace was the Silver Tree (Мөнгөн мод) fountain. According to Rubruck, there were four silver sculptures of lions at the foot of the Silver Tree, and fermented mare's milk — airag, favourite drink of the Mongols — would run from their mouths. Four golden serpents twined round the tree. Wine would pour from the mouth of one serpent, airag from the mouth of the second serpent, mead from the third, and rice beer from the fourth. The top of the tree was crowned by an angel blowing a bugle. The branches, leaves and fruits of the tree were all made of silver. The fountain was designed by a captive sculptor William of Paris.
caption: Silver Tree fountain in front of Tumen Amugulang Palace. 18th-century European imagination
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