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拍品专文
Despite its small size, this elegant figure encompasses a great amount of movement and monumentality. During the Tang dynasty, representations of foreigners were made in various materials, mostly in pottery as tomb figures, reflecting the cosmopolitan nature of the society of the period. Representations in other materials are far more rare, and those made of jade are of small size.
However, even in their small size the carvers managed to allude to the ethnicity of the figures, not only in the depiction of the face, but especially the costume and hair. The present figure most likely represents a dancer of Central Asian type, attesting to the popularity and influence of foreign entertainers at the Tang court. Compare the two small jade figures of foreigners, one a dancer, the other with an animal, and both shown with one arm raised in a manner similar to that of the present figure, illustrated by J. F. So in Chinese Jades from the Cissy and Robert Tang Collection, Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2015, p. 162, nos. 31b and 31c. As with the present figure, each wears a belted robe, as does a figure of a musician, also illustrated p. 162, no. 31a. On p. 163 details of the belts of nos. 31a and 31c show that they are ornamented with plaques, which is also true of the belt of the present figure, representing the jade plaques that decorated leather belts of the period. These figures are identified by their costume as being Central Asian. The date spread for the three is from Tang to Liao, 7th-10th century, with no. 31b dated Liao, and its headdress identified as Qidian-style.
See, also, the two equally small jade figures of this type, each depicting a male foreign dancer with the arms held in positions similar to those of the present dancer, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Jadeware (II), Hong Kong 1995, pp. 32-33, nos. 29 and 30, where they are dated to the Tang dynasty.
The present pendant was in the collection of the renowned archaeologist Dr Cheng Te-k’un (1907-2001). Born in Gulangyu, Xiamen, Fujiang province at the turn of the 20th century. Dr Cheng graduated from Peking University and obtained his doctorate degree in archaeology from Harvard University. He taught at the University of Cambridge for 23 years from 1951, during which Dr. Cheng built up the Mu-Fei Library. In 1984, Dr Cheng founded the Centre for Chinese Archaeology and Art at The Chinese University of Hong Kong and served as its first director before his retirement in 1985.
However, even in their small size the carvers managed to allude to the ethnicity of the figures, not only in the depiction of the face, but especially the costume and hair. The present figure most likely represents a dancer of Central Asian type, attesting to the popularity and influence of foreign entertainers at the Tang court. Compare the two small jade figures of foreigners, one a dancer, the other with an animal, and both shown with one arm raised in a manner similar to that of the present figure, illustrated by J. F. So in Chinese Jades from the Cissy and Robert Tang Collection, Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2015, p. 162, nos. 31b and 31c. As with the present figure, each wears a belted robe, as does a figure of a musician, also illustrated p. 162, no. 31a. On p. 163 details of the belts of nos. 31a and 31c show that they are ornamented with plaques, which is also true of the belt of the present figure, representing the jade plaques that decorated leather belts of the period. These figures are identified by their costume as being Central Asian. The date spread for the three is from Tang to Liao, 7th-10th century, with no. 31b dated Liao, and its headdress identified as Qidian-style.
See, also, the two equally small jade figures of this type, each depicting a male foreign dancer with the arms held in positions similar to those of the present dancer, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Jadeware (II), Hong Kong 1995, pp. 32-33, nos. 29 and 30, where they are dated to the Tang dynasty.
The present pendant was in the collection of the renowned archaeologist Dr Cheng Te-k’un (1907-2001). Born in Gulangyu, Xiamen, Fujiang province at the turn of the 20th century. Dr Cheng graduated from Peking University and obtained his doctorate degree in archaeology from Harvard University. He taught at the University of Cambridge for 23 years from 1951, during which Dr. Cheng built up the Mu-Fei Library. In 1984, Dr Cheng founded the Centre for Chinese Archaeology and Art at The Chinese University of Hong Kong and served as its first director before his retirement in 1985.