TANG DYNASTY

Details

A Pair of Finely Modeled and Painted Red Pottery Figures of Earth Spirits
Tang dynasty
One modeled as a unicorn-like beast with humanoid face, twisted horn, large bat ears and hooved feet, the other modeled as a twin-horned beast with leonine face and bird claw feet, each seated on a pierced rockwork base and with three slender flame-like projections rising from the shoulders, painted with tiger-skin legs and foliate scroll on their chests, traces of gilding to one face
43½in. (110.5cm.) high (2)

Provenance

Christie's, New York, 21/22 September 1995, lot 595.

Lot Essay

Tomb guardians in the form of composite beasts first begin to appear in the Six Dynasties period, at the same time that Buddhist images with guardian lions are first seen and produced in China. They usually appear in pairs, one with a human head and the other with a lion head. Their supernatural powers, indicated by antlers, spiky flanges and flames enable them to confront evil spirits and to protect any area within their gaze.
A similarly well-modeled example was sold in these rooms, 27 November 1991, lot 296.

The result of Oxford thermoluminescence test no. 766j46 is consistent with the dating of this lot.

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