A RARE WELL-MODELED SANCAI-GLAZED POTTERY FIGURE OF A FEREGHAN HORSE TANG DYNASTY

Details

A RARE WELL-MODELED SANCAI-GLAZED POTTERY FIGURE OF A FEREGHAN HORSE TANG DYNASTY

Shown standing foursquare on a rectangular base with head turned slightly to the left and ears pricked forward, the long forelock and mane covered in a straw glaze draining onto the blaze and left front haunch and also used on the underside of the heavily textured saddle blanket, scored and built up in imitation of fur and covered in a soft leaf-green glaze highlighted in pale amber, with florette-molded trappings executed in straw and green glaze, the body of the horse covered in a rich amber glaze draining in streaks onto the straw-glazed lower legs and pooling around the hoofs, some restoration--21 1/4 in. (54cm.) long

Lot Essay

The thick, textured blÿanket thrown over the saddle is a very unusual feature and can be seen on horses with a variety of trappings and different treatments of the long mane illustrated in Luoyang Tang Sancai, pl. 72, excavated in 1963 from tomb no. 2 at Guanlin, and pl. 67, excavated in 1964 from tomb no. 59 at Guanlin; in the revised Sekai toji zenshu, vol. 11, pl. 193, in the Eisei Bunko, Tokyo; in the Idemitsu Museum of Art 15th Anniversary Catalogue, 1981, no. 628; in Seika Yurinkan, Kyoto, 1975, pl. 27 bottom; in the Tokyo National Museum Illustrated Catalogue, 1988, no. 204; by Prodan, The Art of the T'ang Potter, col. pl. I; and by Schloss, Ancient Chinese Ceramic Sculpture, vol. II, col. pl. V. Another horse of exceptional quality from the tomb of Prince Yide, dated 706, was discovered in Qianxian, Shaanxi, and was included in the exhibition, 'The Quest for Eternity', Los Angeles County Museum, 1987, Catalogue, no. 66. Compare also two very fine, white sancai horses in the Chinese Historical Museum, Beijing, one found in a tomb at Nanhe village, near Xian and the other excavated in Qibiming near Xianyang, also in Shaanxi Province, both illustrated in Zhongguo Taoci Quanji: Tang Sancai, vol. 7, pl. 107 and 116

The result of Oxford thermoluminescence test no. 566z47 is consistent with the dating of this lot