TANG CERAMIC FIGURES
A MASSIVE SANCAI-GLAZED BUFF POTTERY FIGURE OF A CAPARISONED HORSE

TANG DYNASTY

Details
A MASSIVE SANCAI-GLAZED BUFF POTTERY FIGURE OF A CAPARISONED HORSE
Tang Dynasty
Powerfully modeled standing foursquare on a slab base and turning slightly to the left, the head crisply modeled with ears alertly pricked, mouth open and nostrils flared, with straw-glazed blaze, hogged mane, docked tail and hoofs, with leaf-shaped medallions suspended from the halter, chest and crupper straps molded with square patterning, the small cloth-covered saddle and stirrups glazed amber atop a green-streaked, straw-glazed blanket, all reserved against the deep amber glaze of the body
30in. (76.2cm.) high

Lot Essay

It is rare to find this combination of powerful modeling, extremely large leaf-shaped medallions and stirrups on a large glazed Tang horse
It appears that stirrups are shown more commonly on smaller horses, or horses with riders, such as the examples included in the exhibition, The Silk Road, Treasures of Tang China, The Empress Place Museum, Singapore, 1991 and illustrated in the Catalogue, pp. 30-31. Two other smaller horses with stirrups are illustrated in Ceramic Art of the World vol. II, Tokyo, 1976, pl. 184 and another is illustrated by Wan-go Weng and Yang Boda, The Palace Museum: Peking, New York, 1982, p. 245, pl. 141

The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no. C97c80 is consistent with the dating of this lot