TANG DYNASTY (618-907)

細節

A RARE SMALL WHITE MARBLE FIGURE OF A SEATED MUSICIAN
TANG DYNASTY (618-907)
Well carved in a seated position with head turned to the left and holding a flute, wearing belted robes with simply delineated folds, and a 'double-bun' cloth head covering, his soft face carved with fine, delicate features
5 5/8 in. (14.3 cm.) high

拍品專文

This rare small white marble figure of a musician is very similar in form to pottery figures of Tang date. Compare the set of six pottery seated musicians unearthed from a tomb in Xi'an, Shaanxi province in 1955, illustrated in A Journey into China's Antiquity, Beijing, National Museum of Chinese History, Beijing, vol. 3, pp. 186-7, no. 190. They represent 'sitting performers' who accompanied 3-12 dancers in a series of six dances. The pottery figures are similarly dressed and have their hair pulled up into the same 'double bun' arrangement as the marble figure. Amongst the figures, each of which plays a different instrument, is a figure holding a flute. The position of this figure and the marble flautist is very similar.

Two other white marble figures of soldier attendants excavated from the tomb (dated 740) of Yang Sixu, Xi'an, Shaanxi province, in 1957, also wear robes similar to the present figure and have their hair arranged in the same way beneath a cloth covering. See, China, Dawn of a Golden Age, 200-750 AD, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2004, pp. 311-12, no. 203. These standing figures (15 7/8 in. high) carry and are arrayed in various weapons. Like the white marble flautist they were created to realistically depict those who attended the deceased while living, but in the more expensive marble rather than pottery.

Technical examination report upon request.