YUAN DYNASTY (1279-1368)

Details

A GOOD PAIR OF PAINTED AND GLAZED FIGURES OF EQUESTRIANS
Yuan dynasty (1279-1368)
Each rider shown seated astride a caparisoned horse modelled with a wavy mane and long tail swept to one side, and standing on a rectangular plinth, the riders' hands positioned to one side as if to hold objects, possibly musical instruments, one dressed in a short jacket over a loose blue tunic, his horse glazed pale green with brown splashes, the other wearing a long tunic with green borders, his horse glazed amber with green trappings, both with unglazed removable head painted with mustache and beard over flesh-toned pigments, extensive pigment remaining including some gilt decoration on the saddle pommel
Both approx. 15½in. (39.4cm.) high (2)

Provenance

Christie's, New York, 3 June 1993, lot 217.

Lot Essay

Compare the very similarly modelled equestrian figure which has been dated to the Yuan period, excavated from a tomb at Chengde in Hebei province, illustrated in Zhongguo diaoshushi tulu, vol. 4, no. 1901. See, also, the pair of equestrians from a funerary procession of seventy-four figures in the Royal Ontario Museum of Archeology, illustrated in Chinese Pottery Figurines, 1950, no. 22.

More from Fine Chinese Archaic Bronzes, Ceramics and Works of Art

View All