A PAINTED BUFF POTTERY FIGURE OF A CAPARISONED HORSE

NORTHERN WEI DYNASTY

Details

A PAINTED BUFF POTTERY FIGURE OF A CAPARISONED HORSE
Northern Wei Dynasty
Standing foursquare on a rectangular base with long arched neck and elongated head, richly caparisoned with a horned and tassel-hung bridle, a tassel-hung chest strap, betasseled and medallion-applied crupper and a long knotted cloth draped over the saddle and flared mud guards, with traces of white, red, pink and black pigment
14in. (37.5cm.) high

Lot Essay

A line drawing of a very similar caparisoned horse excavated in 1978 from the Northern Wei tomb of Yuan Liang, Hebei, Ci County, is illustrated in Kaogu, 1997:3, p. 37, fig. 8 (2).

Compare, also, a very similar example with a knobbed ornament between its ears illustrated in The Tsui Museum of Art, Chinese Ceramics I; Neolithic to Liao, Hong Kong, 1993, no. 71; and another missing its legs illustrated in Early Chinese Pottery, Gemeentemuseum, The Hague, 1956, no. 7.

The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no. C198t60 is consistent with the dating of this lot.