Lot Essay
The result of Oxford Thermoluminescence test, no.766j24, is consistent with the dating of this lot.
The Bactrian camel was not indigenous to China. Refer to Schloss, Ancient Chinese Ceramic Sculpture, 1977, vol.1, pl.220, where he discusses the importation of tens of thousands of camels from the states of the Tarim Basin, eastern Turkestan and Mongolia. The Tang state even created a special office to supervise the imperial camel herds, which carried out various state assignments, including military courier service for the Northern Frontier. The camel was also used by the court and merchants for local transportation and were the "ships of the desert" linking China to the cities of central Asia, Samarkand, Persia and Syria.
Although many models of Tang camels, both glazed and unglazed, are recorded, it is rare to find camels of this size and quality. Compare the camel in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco of almost this size, 88.9cm. high, but with a pack slung over the saddle-cloth, illustrated by M. Medley, T'ang Pottery and Porcelain, London, 1981, pl.48, pp.56 and 57; another, slightly smaller, 84cm. high, in the British Museum, London, illustrated Sekai Toji Zenshu, Tokyo, 1976, vol.11, pl.136, p.148, also illustrated by M. Prodan, The Art of the T'ang Potter, London, 1960, pl.50, and p.102. Further examples, without pack or saddle-cloth, but of large size and fine quality should be compared to the present lot: one, 86.2cm. high, from the Sze Yuan Tang Collection, was exhibited Zui To no Bijutsu, Osaka Municipal Museum, 1976, Catalogue no.1-246, and in Tang, Eskenazi, London, 1987, Catalogue no.38; and another, 83cm. high, from the Kyoto National Museum was exhibited Far Eastern Ceramics, Tokyo National Museum, 1970, Catalogue no.19, and also Special Exhibition of Chinese Ceramics, Tokyo National Museum, 1994, Catalogue no.122. See also the camel from the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, illustrated by W. Watson, Tang and Liao Ceramics, New York, 1984, colour plate 215, p.195.
The Bactrian camel was not indigenous to China. Refer to Schloss, Ancient Chinese Ceramic Sculpture, 1977, vol.1, pl.220, where he discusses the importation of tens of thousands of camels from the states of the Tarim Basin, eastern Turkestan and Mongolia. The Tang state even created a special office to supervise the imperial camel herds, which carried out various state assignments, including military courier service for the Northern Frontier. The camel was also used by the court and merchants for local transportation and were the "ships of the desert" linking China to the cities of central Asia, Samarkand, Persia and Syria.
Although many models of Tang camels, both glazed and unglazed, are recorded, it is rare to find camels of this size and quality. Compare the camel in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco of almost this size, 88.9cm. high, but with a pack slung over the saddle-cloth, illustrated by M. Medley, T'ang Pottery and Porcelain, London, 1981, pl.48, pp.56 and 57; another, slightly smaller, 84cm. high, in the British Museum, London, illustrated Sekai Toji Zenshu, Tokyo, 1976, vol.11, pl.136, p.148, also illustrated by M. Prodan, The Art of the T'ang Potter, London, 1960, pl.50, and p.102. Further examples, without pack or saddle-cloth, but of large size and fine quality should be compared to the present lot: one, 86.2cm. high, from the Sze Yuan Tang Collection, was exhibited Zui To no Bijutsu, Osaka Municipal Museum, 1976, Catalogue no.1-246, and in Tang, Eskenazi, London, 1987, Catalogue no.38; and another, 83cm. high, from the Kyoto National Museum was exhibited Far Eastern Ceramics, Tokyo National Museum, 1970, Catalogue no.19, and also Special Exhibition of Chinese Ceramics, Tokyo National Museum, 1994, Catalogue no.122. See also the camel from the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, illustrated by W. Watson, Tang and Liao Ceramics, New York, 1984, colour plate 215, p.195.