A RARE BLUE AND AMBER-GLAZED COURT LADY

TANG DYNASTY, 1ST HALF 8TH CENTURY

细节

A RARE BLUE AND AMBER-GLAZED COURT LADY
Tang Dynasty, 1st Half 8th Century
With her head turned gazing slightly to her left, her hair tied in a simple folding bun falling to her forehead, a blue-glazed shawl trickling over the shoulder and down her back, her long dress ribbon tied at the front
15in. (39cm.) high

拍品专文

The presence of cobalt blue glaze on this figure denotes her high ranking status. Comparable examples are very rare. One famous example, also with blue-glazed cloak and a tied ribbon but with her hand lowered to the waist, is illustrated in several publications, including by Seiichi Mizuno, Tousansai (Tang Sancai), Heibonsha, Japan, 1977, vol. 35, fig. 110; in Zhonghua wuqian nian wenwu jikan (Tang Sancai), Taipei, 1984, fig. 2 (with another, fig. 1); in Masterworks of Eastern Ceramics, Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum, Japan, 1994, Inaugural Exhibition Catalogue, p. 107, no. 20; in Yuzo Sugimara and William Watson, Chinese Sculpture, Bronzes and Jades in Japanese Collections, Japan, 1966, no. 40, where the authors note it as "an example of a typical T'ang beauty -- such as the one pictured in the screen, Portrait of a Woman in a Feather Dress, preserved in the Shoso-in -- with rouged cheeks and floral patterns painted on her forehead and cheeks", in the Exhibition of Eastern Art, Tokyo, 1968, Catalogue, p. 84, no. 84; and in Selected Catalogue of the Museum Yamato Bunkakan, Nara, 1964, col. pl. 70.

The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no. C298a37 is consistent with the dating of this lot.