A PAIR OF SANCAI-GLAZED POTTERY FIGURES OF OFFICIALS

THE PROPERTY OF A LADY

Details

A PAIR OF SANCAI-GLAZED POTTERY FIGURES OF OFFICIALS
TANG DYNASTY

Each haughty figure shown standing atop a pierced rockwork base with hands clasped within the tight sleeves of an undergarment, the outer robe of three-quarter length with fringed hem and full sleeves worn over a long skirt, one with cloud-toed shoes, the other wearing a breast plate over his robe, all glazed in amber, green and cream, their well-modeled and very different faces with traces of painted details below different officials' caps, repaired
42 and 42½in. (106.8 and 108cm.) high (2)

Lot Essay

Compare the similar figure of the same size illustrated in Zhongguo gudai taosu yishu, 'Qin Ting Yu', Peking, 1957, pl. 64. A pair of large civil officials of this type, discovered in the previously undisturbed tomb of General An Pu, at Longmen, Luoyang, which showed the original arrangement of the tomb furnishings, was found in the entry corridor, along with two other pairs of figures, a pair of lokapalas and a pair of earth spirits. See Robert L. Thorp, Son of Heaven: Imperial Art of China, Seattle, 1988, pp. 199-205