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Lot Essay
The Bactrian camel was not indigenous to China. See Ezekiel Schloss, Ancient Chinese Ceramic Sculpture, Stamford, Connecticut, 1977, vol. I, 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 courier service for the northern frontier. The camel was also used by the court and the merchants for local transportation, and, of course, were the 'ships of the desert' linking China to the oasis cities of central Asia, Samarkand, Persia, and Syria
For other large braying camels with monster-mask packs, but standing foursquare, see Tang Sancai, Heibonsha Series, Japan, 1977, vol. 35, fig. 101; Seikai toji zenshu, Tokyo, 1961, vol. 9, pl. 126; and S. Valenstein, The Herzman Collection of Chinese Ceramics, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1992, no. 22.
For other large braying camels with monster-mask packs, but standing foursquare, see Tang Sancai, Heibonsha Series, Japan, 1977, vol. 35, fig. 101; Seikai toji zenshu, Tokyo, 1961, vol. 9, pl. 126; and S. Valenstein, The Herzman Collection of Chinese Ceramics, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1992, no. 22.