It has been suggested that this is a figure of an African native. A similar, but smaller, figure was included in the Hong Kong Museum of Art exhibition, "Treasures of Chang'an -- Capital of the Silk Road", October 15, 1993-January 2, 1994, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Catalogue no. 73, pp. 196-197. The catalogue also states that, "Pottery figures of Africans have been unearthed from Tang tombs. According to official documents of the Tang Dynasty, the earliest African country known to China was Shunai, an area in the southern part of present-day Somalia. As recorded, Shunai sent an ambassador to Chang'an (later Xi'an) in AD 629. It is believed that Shunai was one of the said Kunlun tribes in the Tang Dynasty. As described in the Tang novels, the term 'Kunlun slaves' refers to Negro servants. During the Tang period, there was constant sea traffic between the two countries. Products like ivory and incense were shipped to China, while Chinese merchandise traveled west to Africa. It is therefore not surprising to find that many Chinese coins and ceramics have been unearthed from Zanzibar in Africa."

The result of Oxford thermoluminescence test no. 666w83 is consistent with the dating of this lot