A STRAW-GLAZED BUFF POTTERY FIGURE OF A HORSE

Details

A STRAW-GLAZED BUFF POTTERY FIGURE OF A HORSE
SUI DYNASTY

Shown standing fouresquare on a rectangular base, with hogged mane and long tail, the harness hung with a bell and the side pieces of the bit visible at the sides of the mouth, covered with a now-degraded glaze of greenish tone pooling at the base of the hoofs, the saddle, saddle cloth, blanket and straps left unglazed and showing traces of red and orange pigment--12½in. (31.7cm.) high, wood stand

Literature

Frances Klapthor, "Chinese Ceramics from the Collection of Peter and Irene Scheinman", Orientations, September 1992, pp. 53-60, fig. 12

Exhibited

Baltimore, Baltimore Museum of Art, Born of Earth and Fire, Chinese Ceramics from the Scheinman Collection, September 9-November 8, 1992, no. 32

Lot Essay

Very similar horses, some with musicians and other figures mounted on them, were discovered in the early Tang Dynasty tomb of Zhang Shiqui in Liquanxian, Shaanxi province, as illustrated in Kaogu, 1978:3, pl. 174, fig. 5:3 and pl. X, figs. 3 and 4

Compare, also, the similar example from the Askin Collection included in the exhibition, Ming-Ch'i, The Katonah Gallery, Katonah, New York, April 12-June 29, 1975, illustrated by Schloss in the Catalogue, no. 61 and another in the British Museum illustrated by Watson, Art of Dynastic China, New York, 1981, no. 397

A similar horse from the Aurelius Parenti Collection was sold in these rooms June 3, 1988, lot 190