This type of pottery, called Cizhou ware after the place in China where it was made, was a popular type of ceramic made in large quantities. However, the remarkable scene painted on this pillow--the three great philosophies of Chinese civilization as represented by a Confucian scholar, a Buddhist monk, and a Taoist priest seated at a chessboard--is unique among known pillows; this is also one of the few ceramic works of the period that bears a precise date, in this case one that corresponds to 1178. The freely brushed figures are enclosed in a thick brown outline that follows the crescent shape of the pillow, which would have been placed with the deceased in the tomb. Felice Fischer, from Philadelphia Museum of Art: Handbook of the Collections (1995), p. 28.