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Lot Essay
This massive and exceptionally handsome camel is a particularly fine example of the type of figure that was made to go into the tombs of the Tang elite in the first half of the 8th century. Such models, which would have been very expensive to purchase, provided an obvious indication of the wealth of a family who could afford to inter such costly goods with their deceased relative. Not surprisingly camels have been found among the burial items in a number of the Tang imperial tombs, as well as some of those belonging to other members of the Tang nobility. However, these models were not simply symbols of wealth, they were also symbols of the way that wealth might have been acquired through trade and tribute along the Silk Route. In the Tang dynasty camels really did live up to the description of them as 'ships of the desert' and were used to transport Chinese goods, including silk across the difficult terrain of the Silk Route to the eager markets of Central Asia, Samarkand, Persia and Syria. Camels are reported to have routinely carried up to 250 kg. in their packs. They may also be seen as symbolic of the cosmopolitanism of the Tang capital at Chang'an. They carried, on their return journeys, many of the exotic luxuries from the west that were desired by the sophisticated Tang court. It is also no coincidence that the famous sancai troupe of the western musicians, who were excavated in 1957 from the Xianyu Tinghui tomb at Xi'an (Chang'an) in Shaanxi, dated to AD 723, are depicted seated on a camel very similar to the current example.
The two-humped Bactrian camel was known in China as early as the Han dynasty, having been brought from Central Asia and Eastern Turkestan as tribute. Its amazing ability to survive the hardships of travel across the Asian deserts was soon recognized and Imperial camel herds were established under the administration of a special Bureau. These Imperial camel herds, numbering several thousand, were used for a range of state duties, including the provision of a military courier service for the Northern Frontier. Camels were not only prized as resilient beasts of burden, their hair was also used to produce a cloth, which, then as now, was admired for its lightness and warmth. Even camel meat was regarded as a delicacy, with the hump being noted as particularly flavorsome.
Of the known examples of large camels, the one closest in style to the present example is the striking creature excavated in 1981 from a tomb in Luoyang, Henan illustrated in Zhongguo wenwu jinghua daquan - taoci juan, Taipei, 1993, p. 155, no. 534. This excavated camel bears glaze coloration which is the reverse of the current example. However, it shares with the current example not only its massive size but also the unusually realistically depicted throat and chest hair. Both have similar treatment of the hair on the head, and have similarly natural treatment of the short tail. They have the same striding stance and exceptionally well-modelled heads. The Luoyang camel also has its mouth open in a bray. The two camels are closely linked by the style of their saddle blankets and packs. Although the saddle blanket of the current example is once again more realistically colored, they share the same form and detailing. The packs too are unusually detailed and of similar content, even to the point of carrying a white ewer of the same form. This white ewer is also carried by another camel of comparable form and size, with similar saddle blanket and pack in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco. This figure, which has the brown coat and cream mane of the excavated example, is illustrated by W. Watson in The Arts of China to AD 900, New Haven/London, 1995, p. 233, no. 373. A striding camel of similar size and coloring to the current example in the British Museum, London is illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu, vol. 11, Tokyo, 1976, p. 148, no. 136. The British Museum camel has a saddle blanket of comparable design to that on the current example, and also carries an extensive pack. It too has a small ewer attached to the pack, but while this shares its shape with that on the current animal, it has a dark glaze.
A striding camel of similar size and coloring, but with coarser, less natural rendering of the hair texture than the current example, and without a pack, was sold at Sotheby's, London, 10 June 1986, lot 5.
The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no. C104q51 is consistent with the dating of this lot.
The two-humped Bactrian camel was known in China as early as the Han dynasty, having been brought from Central Asia and Eastern Turkestan as tribute. Its amazing ability to survive the hardships of travel across the Asian deserts was soon recognized and Imperial camel herds were established under the administration of a special Bureau. These Imperial camel herds, numbering several thousand, were used for a range of state duties, including the provision of a military courier service for the Northern Frontier. Camels were not only prized as resilient beasts of burden, their hair was also used to produce a cloth, which, then as now, was admired for its lightness and warmth. Even camel meat was regarded as a delicacy, with the hump being noted as particularly flavorsome.
Of the known examples of large camels, the one closest in style to the present example is the striking creature excavated in 1981 from a tomb in Luoyang, Henan illustrated in Zhongguo wenwu jinghua daquan - taoci juan, Taipei, 1993, p. 155, no. 534. This excavated camel bears glaze coloration which is the reverse of the current example. However, it shares with the current example not only its massive size but also the unusually realistically depicted throat and chest hair. Both have similar treatment of the hair on the head, and have similarly natural treatment of the short tail. They have the same striding stance and exceptionally well-modelled heads. The Luoyang camel also has its mouth open in a bray. The two camels are closely linked by the style of their saddle blankets and packs. Although the saddle blanket of the current example is once again more realistically colored, they share the same form and detailing. The packs too are unusually detailed and of similar content, even to the point of carrying a white ewer of the same form. This white ewer is also carried by another camel of comparable form and size, with similar saddle blanket and pack in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco. This figure, which has the brown coat and cream mane of the excavated example, is illustrated by W. Watson in The Arts of China to AD 900, New Haven/London, 1995, p. 233, no. 373. A striding camel of similar size and coloring to the current example in the British Museum, London is illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu, vol. 11, Tokyo, 1976, p. 148, no. 136. The British Museum camel has a saddle blanket of comparable design to that on the current example, and also carries an extensive pack. It too has a small ewer attached to the pack, but while this shares its shape with that on the current animal, it has a dark glaze.
A striding camel of similar size and coloring, but with coarser, less natural rendering of the hair texture than the current example, and without a pack, was sold at Sotheby's, London, 10 June 1986, lot 5.
The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no. C104q51 is consistent with the dating of this lot.