Lot Essay
It is rare to find female polo players with this style of hairdo, a style usually seen on standing court ladies of the more corpulent type
Though of a rare type, these figures are related to the well-known group of four female polo players in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, referred to in Handbook of the Collections, vol. II, Art of the Orient, Kansas City, 1973, p. 81
A group of unglazed red pottery equestrian tomb figures, including polo players, is said to have been excavated in Luoyang. One male player and one female are illustrated. See Zhongguo gudai taosu yishu, Shanghai, 1955, pl. 37. They, too, are naturalistic and lively in their modeling. A single female polo player in the Tenri Museum, Japan, is illustrated in Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 11, Tokyo, 1976, p. 225, pl. 183
Compare, also, the three examples sold in these rooms May 30, 1991, lot 263, and a pair sold November 27, 1991, lot 305
The result of Oxford thermoluminescence test no. 866b68 is consistent with the dating of this lot
Though of a rare type, these figures are related to the well-known group of four female polo players in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, referred to in Handbook of the Collections, vol. II, Art of the Orient, Kansas City, 1973, p. 81
A group of unglazed red pottery equestrian tomb figures, including polo players, is said to have been excavated in Luoyang. One male player and one female are illustrated. See Zhongguo gudai taosu yishu, Shanghai, 1955, pl. 37. They, too, are naturalistic and lively in their modeling. A single female polo player in the Tenri Museum, Japan, is illustrated in Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 11, Tokyo, 1976, p. 225, pl. 183
Compare, also, the three examples sold in these rooms May 30, 1991, lot 263, and a pair sold November 27, 1991, lot 305
The result of Oxford thermoluminescence test no. 866b68 is consistent with the dating of this lot