A RARE PAINTED GRAY POTTERY FIGURE OF A KNEELING BACTRIAN CAMEL

LATE 6TH CENTURY/EARLY TANG DYNASTY

細節

A RARE PAINTED GRAY POTTERY FIGURE OF A KNEELING BACTRIAN CAMEL
Late 6th Century/Early Tang Dynasty
Shown in the process of either lowering itself to the ground or rising, its neck and head turned slightly to the left and its mouth partially open to expose the teeth, with deeply scored patches of hair on the head, neck, upper legs and humps, the back heavily laden with a large pack with central slit tied on either side above a long cloth folded over the projecting packboards and flanked by twists of cloth and suspended jars or flasks, with traces of red, black, white and ochre pigment
11in. (27.9cm.) long

拍品專文

The unusual, but naturalistic pose of this camel is seen in pottery camels as early as the Eastern Wei dynasty, such as the camel excavated in 1979, Hebei province, Ci County, and illustrated in Zhongguo Gudaishi Cankao Tulu: Sanguo Liang Jin Nanbeichao Shegi (A Pictorial Reference of Chinese Ancient History; Three Kingdoms, Two Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties), Shanghai, 1990, p. 184 (top) and another illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu, vol. 8, Tokyo, 1955, p. 270, fig. 311. Sui examples also exist, represented by one in The Tsui Museum of Art, Chinese Ceramics I: Neolithic to Liao, Hong Kong, 1993, no. 75 and one in the Nelson-Atkins Musuem of Art, illustrated in the Handbook of the Collection, New York, 1993, p. 280 (top right)
The result of Oxford thermoluminescence test no. 866j86 is consistent with the dating of this lot