PROPERTY OF THE HOWARD GILMAN FOUNDATION* Howard Gilman (February 15, 1924 - January 3, 1998) was the chairman and chief executive of Gilman Paper Company. He was also a dedicated philanthropist, conservationist and art-lover. Among his several collections is this small, but fine, group of Chinese pottery figures of horses (lots 252 to 258). An accomplished rider, the collector had a special eye for the subject and an early portrait of him with two equine friends may explain what attracted him to the lot of two Tang dynasty pottery figures of uncaparisoned horses, one with an allover amber-colored glaze and the other a straw-colored glaze (lot 258). Another topic that interested him was the historical replacement of the small, short-legged Mongolian pony with the Ferghana horses imported into China from central Asia, an event that revolutionized the use of cavalry during the Han dynasty (lot 252). PROPERTY OF THE HOWARD GILMAN FOUNDATION*

A PAINTED GREY POTTERY FIGURE OF A MONGOLIAN PONY AND A SMALL PAINTED POTTERY FIGURE OF A HORSE

WESTERN JIN DYNASTY (265-317) AND TANG DYNASTY (618-907), RESPECTIVELY

Details

A PAINTED GREY POTTERY FIGURE OF A MONGOLIAN PONY AND A SMALL PAINTED POTTERY FIGURE OF A HORSE
Western Jin dynasty (265-317) and Tang dynasty (618-907), respectively
The stocky Mongolian pony arrayed in armor including pointed bosses on its muzzle and the tip of its mane, with facial details painted in black on a ground of white slip, and traces of painted trappings on the remainder of the body, extensive earth encrustation; the small Tang horse standing foursquare on a rectangular plinth, head turned slightly to the left, with hogged mane and docked tail, the body of pale orange-red color with extensive traces of white pigment
Mongolian pony 12½in. (31.7cm.) high; horse 11½ in. (29.2 cm.) long (2)

Provenance

Mongolian pony: Christie's, New York, 30 May 1991, lot 230.

Lot Essay

Compare the similar painted grey pottery figure of a Mongolian pony excavated in 1999 from a Western Jin tomb in Luoyang City, Shaanxi province, illustrated in Wenwu, 2000:10, front cover and p. 31, pl. 9, where it is shown in situ with the painted grey pottery figures of an ox and cart and two attendants.

The result of Oxford thermoluminescence test no. 566p42 is consistent with the dating of the Mongolian pony.

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