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Lot Essay
This magnificent horse is exceptional for its large size, realistically-modelled mane, finely-textured saddle imitating fur, and very rare matte-brown coloring.
Tang pottery horses are most often shown with amber or straw-glazed bodies, and sometimes with a combination of the two, but very rarely with a matte-brown glaze, such as the present figure. The mottled dark brown color of the glaze enhances the naturalism of the figure, while the matte surface provides an interesting contrast to the lustrous straw-glazed mane, hooves and tassels, and greenglazed saddle.
Compare the horse covered in matte-brown glaze, with similar foliate trappings, but with a sancaiglazed rather than green-glazed saddle, and another horse covered in brown glaze, but with an ochrecolored saddle, both from the Tang tomb of Prince Jiemin-Li Chongjun in Fuping county, 1995, illustrated in National Treasure – Collection of Rare Cultural Relics of Shaanxi Province, Xi’an, 1998, pp. 183-84. See also, a horse covered in a black glaze, but without foliate trappings, in the Luoyang Museum, illustrated in Da Sancai, Sancai from Luoyang Museum and the Liaoning Provincial Museum, 1989, p. 31, no. 11. The horse depicted here is the revered ‘blood-sweating’ horse, which was introduced into China from the west during the Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220). These Ferghana horses were known for their speed, power and stamina, qualities which are brought out by the masterful hand of the artist. They were thought to have descended from celestial horses, and were symbols of great status for those who owned them.
Tang pottery horses are most often shown with amber or straw-glazed bodies, and sometimes with a combination of the two, but very rarely with a matte-brown glaze, such as the present figure. The mottled dark brown color of the glaze enhances the naturalism of the figure, while the matte surface provides an interesting contrast to the lustrous straw-glazed mane, hooves and tassels, and greenglazed saddle.
Compare the horse covered in matte-brown glaze, with similar foliate trappings, but with a sancaiglazed rather than green-glazed saddle, and another horse covered in brown glaze, but with an ochrecolored saddle, both from the Tang tomb of Prince Jiemin-Li Chongjun in Fuping county, 1995, illustrated in National Treasure – Collection of Rare Cultural Relics of Shaanxi Province, Xi’an, 1998, pp. 183-84. See also, a horse covered in a black glaze, but without foliate trappings, in the Luoyang Museum, illustrated in Da Sancai, Sancai from Luoyang Museum and the Liaoning Provincial Museum, 1989, p. 31, no. 11. The horse depicted here is the revered ‘blood-sweating’ horse, which was introduced into China from the west during the Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220). These Ferghana horses were known for their speed, power and stamina, qualities which are brought out by the masterful hand of the artist. They were thought to have descended from celestial horses, and were symbols of great status for those who owned them.