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Lot Essay
This elegant figure, beautifully modeled with carefully incised lines that suggest the folds of the garment, is a particularly large and charming example of the court ladies that became fashionable in the second half of the Tang dynasty. The reign of Emperor Ming Huang seems to have heralded the growth in popularity of a more generous female form and the adoption of less structured, flowing robes. This change in style has traditionally been attributed to the influence of the emperor's adored concubine Yang Guifei, who was reported to have had a rather voluptuous figure. Yang Guifei was held partly responsible for the circumstances that led to the An Lushan rebellion of AD 756, and she was executed by the accompanying troops as she and the Emperor fled to Sichuan. The Emperor's grief at her loss was immortalized in one of China's best-known literary works, The Song of Eternal Regret. However, excavated figures suggest that this fashion was already coming to prominence by the time that Yang Guifei won the emperor's admiration.
In addition to their robes, the hairstyles of these figures also differ from those of their slender predecessors. While the latter tended to have their hair drawn back from the face and then arranged in one or two elaborate knots, the plumper ladies, like the current figure, tend to have softer hair styles. The hair is much fuller, framing the upper part of the face and is tied in a looser arrangement on top. The figures of this type usually hold their hands in front of them, in order to provide a more graceful arrangement of their sleeves. Some, like the present example, have their hands completely hidden.
This impressive figure is similar in stance and style of hairdo to a smaller figure (53.4 cm.) illustrated in Mayuyama, Seventy Years, Tokyo, 1976, vol. I, p. 67, no. 178. See, also, the large and well-modeled figure of a lady illustrated by R. Jacobsen in Celestial Horses and Long Sleeve Dancers, The David W. Dewey Collection of Ancient Chinese Tomb Sculpture, Minneapolis, 2013, pp. 181-82.
The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no. C199x65 is consistent with the dating of this lot.
In addition to their robes, the hairstyles of these figures also differ from those of their slender predecessors. While the latter tended to have their hair drawn back from the face and then arranged in one or two elaborate knots, the plumper ladies, like the current figure, tend to have softer hair styles. The hair is much fuller, framing the upper part of the face and is tied in a looser arrangement on top. The figures of this type usually hold their hands in front of them, in order to provide a more graceful arrangement of their sleeves. Some, like the present example, have their hands completely hidden.
This impressive figure is similar in stance and style of hairdo to a smaller figure (53.4 cm.) illustrated in Mayuyama, Seventy Years, Tokyo, 1976, vol. I, p. 67, no. 178. See, also, the large and well-modeled figure of a lady illustrated by R. Jacobsen in Celestial Horses and Long Sleeve Dancers, The David W. Dewey Collection of Ancient Chinese Tomb Sculpture, Minneapolis, 2013, pp. 181-82.
The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no. C199x65 is consistent with the dating of this lot.