A PAINTED POTTERY FIGURE OF A COURT LADY

TANG DYNASTY

Details

A PAINTED POTTERY FIGURE OF A COURT LADY
Tang Dynasty
Modeled with her arms held forward, and hands concealed within the full sleeves, her features well-defined with crisp carvings and pigment, her hair dressed in stiff wings before the ears and tied above with an asymmetrical pouf, wearing a long robe falling with deep folds over one foot, traces of red, cream, black and pink pigments remaining
19in. (50cm.) high

Lot Essay

As with other pottery court ladies of this type, the plump figure, long, loose robes, exaggerated hair style and elegant carriage are a reflection of the fashion of the court during this period of the Tang dynasty. This 'ideal' woman was a definite departure from earlier standards. Two court ladies of this type excavated with others in 1955 from tomb 131 at Gaolon Village, Xian, Shaanxi province, were included in the exhibition, The Quest for Eternity, Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, 1987, Catalogue, pp. 139 and 140, nos. 83 and 84, where it is noted that contemporary literature attested 'to the imposing physical impression created by ladies of the flourishing Tang period'.
A court lady with the same hair style, called the 'side butterfly bun', is illustrated in Zhongguo meishu quanji; diaosu; Sui Tang diaosu (The Great Treasury of Chinese Fine Arts; Sculpture; Sui and Tang Sculpture), Beijing, 1998, vol. 4, p. 146.

The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminesence test no. C198p15 is consistent with the dating of this lot