Lot 238
238
A PAINTED RED POTTERY FIGURE OF AN EARTH SPIRIT
A PAINTED RED POTTERY FIGURE OF AN EARTH SPIRIT

TANG DYNASTY

Details
A PAINTED RED POTTERY FIGURE OF AN EARTH SPIRIT
Tang Dynasty
The leonine-faced creature gesturing wildly as it sits triumphantly atop a prone animal with nippled belly, with head turned sharply to the side, eyes bulging and mouth open in a roar, the gnarled three-toed feet with talons, the shoulders with wings and the head surmounted by a pair of horns flanked by the mane and backed by a tall tuft of orange hair, with traces of foliate decoration on the chest painted in red, black and gold, and black, pink and white pigment elsewhere
23in. (59cm.) high

Lot Essay

Compare the similar figure shown standing atop the body of a sow, from Shaanxi province, in the Field Museum, Chicago, illustrated by W. E. Cox, The Book of Pottery and Porcelain, New York, 1949 ed., vol. I, pl. 31 (top left).