A GOOD LARGE SANCAI-GLAZED POTTERY FIGURE OF A LOKAPALA

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A GOOD LARGE SANCAI-GLAZED POTTERY FIGURE OF A LOKAPALA
TANG DYNASTY

Well modeled standing atop a recumbent water buffalo raised on a rockwork base, his head turned to the right in the direction his left hand is pointing, the right hand placed on his hip, wearing elaborate armor with fish-scale patterned breast plate and skirt over a tunic with fringed borders, with horned monster-mask epaulets at the shoulders and protective leggings bound around the knee and ankle, all in artfully applied leaf green, amber and cream glaze, the unglazed head modeled with fierce expression and detailed in pink, black and red pigment beneath a cap with upturned rim, restored--39 3/4 in. (101cm.) high

Lot Essay

A similarly posed figure wearing almost identical 'fishscale armor', but of smaller size and with his hair drawn-up into a topknot rather than wearing a helmet, is illustrated in Gems of China's Cultural Relics, 1990, no. 124, and another in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, is illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, vol. 10, pl. 80. Compare also a figure of this type and size in the British Museum, illustrated by Watson, Tang and Liao Ceramics, New York, 1984, pl. 198