A RARE PAIR OF PAINTED POTTERY FIGURES OF CAPARISONED HORSES

EARLY TANG DYNASTY

Details

A RARE PAIR OF PAINTED POTTERY FIGURES OF CAPARISONED HORSES
Early Tang Dynasty
Each unusually caparisoned with nine bronze bells suspended from large tassels on a strap spanning the chest, the rump surmounted by a 'fire pearl' and the bridle with pendent pottery tassel above the muzzle, one horse with short cropped mane and triple forelock, the other with long forelock and mane falling on either side of the neck in pronounced strands, the saddle covered with a long cloth gathered either side atop flared mud screens, all pigmented in cream, red and green with penciled detailing in black
14in. (35.5cm.) long (2)

Lot Essay

These horses are similar in their posture, size and trappings, notably the tassels, to a glazed Henan example given the same date by William Watson, Tang and Liao Ceramics, New York, 1984, p. 196, no. 216. The large tassels and the sturdy, arched necks still show the strong influence of the Northern Wei style as illustrated by William Watson, Pre-Tang Ceramics of China, London, 1991, p. 226, no. 149; and in the exhibition, Art of the Six Dynasties, China House Gallery, China Institute in America, New York, 1975-6, p. 58, no. 34. A pair of horses dated Northern dynasties, 5th-6th century, with wire-link pendent tassels and 'fire pearls' on the rump are illustrated in The Tsui Museum of Art, Chinese Ceramics I: Neolithic to Liao, 1993, no. 72. Compare, also, the similar tassels and mud flaps under the saddle on the horse illustrated ibid., no. 71.

The results of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test nos. C97k83 and C97k84 are consistent with the dating of this lot