TANG DYNASTY (AD 618-907)

The goose being held by the present figure and other related figures, has been identified as both a goose being force fed and as a wine vessel. Jan Chapman in her paper, 'A New Look at 'Wine Carriers' Among Tang Dynasty Figures', T.O.C.S., vol. 52, 1987-88, pp. 11-20, illustrates two similar figures, p. 12, pls. 1 and 2, the first in the Rietberg Museum, the second in The Burrell Collection, Glasgow Museums and Art Gallery, and that they do not hold a real goose, or lion, but an earthenware vessel of goose or lion shape, in which a rhinoceros horn has been inserted as a stopper, which could also be used as a cup. Such figures are usually identified as foreigners, of Central or Western Asian type.

A related female figure holding a goose, from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, was sold at Christie's New York, 1 December 1994, lot 151A. Another similar female figure seated on a stool, holding a goose-form vessel, was sold at Christie's New York, 18-19 September 2014, lot 704. See, also, a figure, similar to the present figure, from Shanxi province, is illustrated in Wenwu, 1989:6, col. pl. and black and white pl. 4.1.