TANG DYNASTY (AD 618-907)

A similar camel with a monkey seated, rather than standing four-legged, on the bags supported on the camel’s back, in the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, is illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, vol. 8, Tokyo, 1982, no. 35. The inclusion of a monkey on the pack may be a whimsical notion, or may represent the trader's pet, or may represent part of the trade goods carried by the camels.

A slightly larger painted pottery figure of a camel and monkey rider was sold at Christie’s New York, 18 September 1997, lot 344.