Although figures of recumbent camels are found in unglazed pottery, it is rare to find one in glazed pottery. One with a rider, its head raised and its back covered with a saddle cloth is illustrated in Zhongguo Taoci Quanji; Tang Sancai (The Great Treasury of Chinese Ceramics; Tang Three-color Ceramics), vol. 7, Shanghai, 1983, pl. 34.
Most recumbent camels are in unglazed pottery and of an earlier date, such as the gray pottery camel fully laden with cargo set atop pack boards, of Six Dynasties date, illustrated in The Mount Trust Collection of Chinese Art, London, 1970, no. 22
The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no. C97c64 is consistent with the dating of this lot