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Lot Essay
The current camel is rare and impressive due to its large size. Bactrian camel was not orginally from China. See Ezekiel Schloss, Ancient Chinese Ceramic Sculpture, Stamford, Connecticut, 1977, vol. I, pl. 220, where he discusses the importation of tens of thousands of camels from the states of the Tarim Basin, Eastern Turkestan and Mongolia. The Tang state even created a special courier service for the northern frontier. The camel was also used by the court and the merchants for local transportation and, of course, were the 'ships of the desert' linking China to the oasis cities of central Asia, Samarkand, Persia and Syria.
For other large braying camels standing foursquare, with various stylistic differences, but monster-mask packs, see Tang Sancai, Heibonsha Series, Japan, 1977, vol. 35, fig. 101; Sekai toji zenshu, Tokyo, 1961, vol. 9, pl. 126; and S. Valenstein, The Herzman Collection of Chinese Ceramics, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1992, no. 22
Oxford thermoluminescence test no. C199F73, 12 March 1999, is consistent with the dating of this lot.
For other large braying camels standing foursquare, with various stylistic differences, but monster-mask packs, see Tang Sancai, Heibonsha Series, Japan, 1977, vol. 35, fig. 101; Sekai toji zenshu, Tokyo, 1961, vol. 9, pl. 126; and S. Valenstein, The Herzman Collection of Chinese Ceramics, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1992, no. 22
Oxford thermoluminescence test no. C199F73, 12 March 1999, is consistent with the dating of this lot.