A FINE SANCAI-GLAZED POTTERY FIGURE OF A COURT LADY

Details

A FINE SANCAI-GLAZED POTTERY FIGURE OF A COURT LADY
TANG DYNASTY

The slender, elegant female shown standing with erect posture and regal countenance, her head turned just slightly to the left and her hands held at the midriff concealed beneath the long green and cream-splashed shawl draped around her shoulders, her gown striped in brilliant amber, green and cream glazes and falling in soft folds to the shaped base where the tips of her slippers project beneath the hem, her unglazed face with softly rounded features, full lips brushed with pink pigment and faintly outlined black brows, all below her elaborate coif lifted into a tall, wing-like flange
15 5/8in. (39.6cm.) high

Lot Essay

Sancai-glazed figures of court ladies of this model are well known and a classic element of the Tang dynasty tomb retinue, but large scale figures such as this one are somewhat rare

A sancai-glazed lady of the same, large size but differing in her dress and coif, was excavated in 1981 from the tomb of An Pu, Luoyang, Henan province, and included in the exhibition, Son of Heaven, Imperial Arts of China, Seattle, 1988, Catalogue, p. 205, no. 136. Compare, also, the figure in the Seligman collection, included in the O.C.S. exhibition, Arts of the T'ang Dynasty, 1955, illustrated by John Ayers in the Catalogue, pl. XVIII, no. 26

The result of Oxford thermoluminescence test no. 866b62 is consistent with the dating of this lot