A RARE PAINTED RED POTTERY HORSE NORTHERN WEI DYNASTY

Details

A RARE PAINTED RED POTTERY HORSE NORTHERN WEI DYNASTY
Slab built with knife-cut legs and shown standing foursquare on a rectangular base, the head modeled with deeply hollowed nostrils and diagonal slash marks above and below the large staring eyes of wedge shape detailed in black and white, the black mane bound into a horn-like crest projecting between the forward-pricked ears and striped in white, with flattened circular medallions applied to the black bridle and further black and incised trappings indicated on the stocky, brick-red painted body, the molded saddle hung with a heavy rectangular cloth stiffly flared at the sides and painted in the center with a red rectangle on a white slip field, traces of black pigment on the thick tail of rectangular section--18½in. (47cm.) long

Lot Essay

Compare the drawing of a similar painted pottery horse illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu, vol. 8, fig. 301, p. 268. Compare, also, the similarly modeled horses with riders included in the exhibition, The Quest For Eternity, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1987, Catalogue nos. 39-41

The result of Oxford thermoluminescence test no. 466y67 is consistent with the dating of this lot