Lot 33
33
SUI AND TANG POTTERY FIGURES
A LARGE PAINTED RED POTTERY FIGURE OF A COURT LADY

Details
A LARGE PAINTED RED POTTERY FIGURE OF A COURT LADY
TANG DYNASTY

Standing with back slightly arched and her corpulent body swayed to the left, her hands clasped below the waist within the sleeves of her full, heavy robes incised with details defining the neckline and indicating ribbons pendent from the neckline border, her head also turned to the left and modeled with full cheeks, small mouth and nose and narrow, slitted eyes below black-painted hair drawn up into a large, poufed topknot, with traces of white slip on the body and white slip, pink, red and black pigment on the face, some restoration--21¼in. (54cm.) high

Lot Essay

This figure with plump body, loose-fitting robe and elaborate coiffure is of the type that was popular around the middle of the eighth century, beginning in the reign of Xuanzong and continuing to the time of Emperor Daizong. The figures are typically modeled of buff or reddish clay and covered with white slip. Figures of this type have been excavated from Tang tombs in the area of the Tang capital, Changan, near present-day Xi'an. See Xi'an jiaoqu Sui-Tang mu, Beijing, pl. 22; Wenwu cankao ziliao, 1955:7; Kaogu tongxun, 1957, pl. 13; and Wenwu, 1992:9, pls. 6 and 7

The result of Oxford thermoluminescence test no. 666c11 is consistent with the dating of this lot