Lot Essay
Sancai-glazed female riders of this type are unusual though not unknown. Another example of similar size and pose was sold at Sotheby's, London, June 9, 1987, lot 66 and may have been the example illustrated by R.L. Hobson, The Eumorfopoulos Collection, London, 1925, Catalogue, vol. 1, pl. XXIX, no. 290; two other riders, one female, most likely from the same tomb are also illustrated, ibid., pl. XXIX, nos. 288 and 289. All three bear a strong resemblance in type to the present example, particularly the molding of the horse's head. For further discussion of the depiction of women on horseback, see Virginia Bower, "Two Masterworks of Tang Ceramic Sculpture", Orientations, June, 1993, pp. 75-77, where various examples are illustrated.
See also a female polo player sold at Sotheby's, London, June 10, 1986, lot 8; a horse and female rider in the exhibition, The Arts of the Tang Dynasty, Los Angeles County Museum, 1957, Catalogue, pp. 72-73, no. 161; a female polo player from the Dr. William Goldstein Collection, Connecticut, in the exhibition, Power and Virtue, The Horse in Chinese Art, China Institute Gallery, New York, 1997, Catalogue, pp. 76-77, no. 13; and another rare sancai-glazed female polo player is illustrated in the Royal Ontario Museum, the T.T. Tsui Galleries of Chinese Art, 1996, Catalogue, no. 71, from the Dr. Herman Herzog Levy Bequest Fund.
See also a female polo player sold at Sotheby's, London, June 10, 1986, lot 8; a horse and female rider in the exhibition, The Arts of the Tang Dynasty, Los Angeles County Museum, 1957, Catalogue, pp. 72-73, no. 161; a female polo player from the Dr. William Goldstein Collection, Connecticut, in the exhibition, Power and Virtue, The Horse in Chinese Art, China Institute Gallery, New York, 1997, Catalogue, pp. 76-77, no. 13; and another rare sancai-glazed female polo player is illustrated in the Royal Ontario Museum, the T.T. Tsui Galleries of Chinese Art, 1996, Catalogue, no. 71, from the Dr. Herman Herzog Levy Bequest Fund.