Lot Essay
This group of polo players is rare in a number of respects: the large size of each individual horse and rider; the number of horses and riders in this group; and the detailed modeling of the manes. No other polo players' horses with this plaited mane appear to be published. Excepting the manes, these figures are related to the well-known group of four female polo players in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, referred to in Handbook of the Collections, 1973, vol. II, p. 81. A group of unglazed red pottery equestrian tomb figures, including polo players, is said to have been excavated in Luoyang. One male player and one female are illustrated in Zhongguo gudai taoci yishu (Chinese Ancient Ceramic Sculpture and Art), Beijing, 1957, pl. 37. They, too, are naturalistic and lively in their modeling. A single female polo player in the Tenri Museum, Japan, is illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu, Shogakukan, Japan, 1976, vol. 11, p. 225, pl. 183.
Compare also, the three examples sold at Christie's, New York, May 30, 1991, lot 263; a pair sold November 27, 1991, lot 305; and another pair, March 20, 1997, lot 373.
For a lengthy discussion of polo, see Robert Harrist, Jr., Power and Virtue, The Horse in Chinese Art, China Institute in America, New York, 1997, Catalogue, pp. 74 and 75, nos. 11 and 12, where the author note that "although a small group of Chinese historians claim, based on their reading of a third-century poem, that polo was a Chinese invention, most scholars believe it to have originated in Iran, Central Asia or Tibet, areas with a strong tradition of horsemanship. The Chinese may have contributed to the development of polo by perfecting the fully formed saddle and stirrups, horse gear essential to the game in its final form. The earliest undisputed literary and visual evidence of polo in China dates from the 7th and 8th centuries, from which time stories survive concerning polo-playing emperors and members of the imperial family. According to one such tale, a four-man Chinese team led by the future Emperor Xuanzong (r. 712-56) defeated a ten-man Tibetan team in the year 709. A mural depicting a game of polo, datable to the years 706-11, was found in the tomb of Li Xian (Crown Prince Zhanghuai, 654-684). Tang dynasty bronze mirrors decorated with female polo players have been excavated in Jiangsu province. Polo-playing tomb figurines have been recovered from Tang tombs in both Shaanxi and Xinjiang. Ceramic polo players fall into two categories: dynamic persons riding horses in full "flying gallop," with no support or stand; and elegant depictions of players frozen still, usually with all four or at least three of the horse's legs attached to a rectangular base (see the proceeding lot 23 in the present sale). The riding costume, a fitted jacket with narrow lapels and skirt or trousers, is typical of the attire adopted by Tang women in the second half of the seventh and the early eighth century for riding."
For further illustrations and discussion of the mural from the tomb of Li Xian, see Jan Fontein and Wu Tung, Han and Tang Murals, Boston, 1976, Catalogue, p. 101, nos. 122-125, col. pl. 15.
Compare the example with the same approach to the legs and female rider, but without plaited mane, illustrated in Zhonghua wuqian nian wenwu jikan (Tang Sancai), Taipei, 1984, figs. 43 and 44, from the Rietberg Museum, Zurich; also illustrated by Margaret Medley, Tang Pottery and Porcelain, London, 1981, p. 51, fig. 41. See also the example illustrated by Barry Till and Paula Swart, Images from the Tomb: Chinese Burial Figurines, Canada, 1988, Catalogue, p. 180, fig. 72 (male figure with blanket).
The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no. C198W28 is consistent with the dating of this lot.
Compare also, the three examples sold at Christie's, New York, May 30, 1991, lot 263; a pair sold November 27, 1991, lot 305; and another pair, March 20, 1997, lot 373.
For a lengthy discussion of polo, see Robert Harrist, Jr., Power and Virtue, The Horse in Chinese Art, China Institute in America, New York, 1997, Catalogue, pp. 74 and 75, nos. 11 and 12, where the author note that "although a small group of Chinese historians claim, based on their reading of a third-century poem, that polo was a Chinese invention, most scholars believe it to have originated in Iran, Central Asia or Tibet, areas with a strong tradition of horsemanship. The Chinese may have contributed to the development of polo by perfecting the fully formed saddle and stirrups, horse gear essential to the game in its final form. The earliest undisputed literary and visual evidence of polo in China dates from the 7th and 8th centuries, from which time stories survive concerning polo-playing emperors and members of the imperial family. According to one such tale, a four-man Chinese team led by the future Emperor Xuanzong (r. 712-56) defeated a ten-man Tibetan team in the year 709. A mural depicting a game of polo, datable to the years 706-11, was found in the tomb of Li Xian (Crown Prince Zhanghuai, 654-684). Tang dynasty bronze mirrors decorated with female polo players have been excavated in Jiangsu province. Polo-playing tomb figurines have been recovered from Tang tombs in both Shaanxi and Xinjiang. Ceramic polo players fall into two categories: dynamic persons riding horses in full "flying gallop," with no support or stand; and elegant depictions of players frozen still, usually with all four or at least three of the horse's legs attached to a rectangular base (see the proceeding lot 23 in the present sale). The riding costume, a fitted jacket with narrow lapels and skirt or trousers, is typical of the attire adopted by Tang women in the second half of the seventh and the early eighth century for riding."
For further illustrations and discussion of the mural from the tomb of Li Xian, see Jan Fontein and Wu Tung, Han and Tang Murals, Boston, 1976, Catalogue, p. 101, nos. 122-125, col. pl. 15.
Compare the example with the same approach to the legs and female rider, but without plaited mane, illustrated in Zhonghua wuqian nian wenwu jikan (Tang Sancai), Taipei, 1984, figs. 43 and 44, from the Rietberg Museum, Zurich; also illustrated by Margaret Medley, Tang Pottery and Porcelain, London, 1981, p. 51, fig. 41. See also the example illustrated by Barry Till and Paula Swart, Images from the Tomb: Chinese Burial Figurines, Canada, 1988, Catalogue, p. 180, fig. 72 (male figure with blanket).
The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no. C198W28 is consistent with the dating of this lot.