Page 25 - Bonhams, Fine Chinese Art, London November 3, 2022

Superbly modelled with an arched neck and semi-open mouth, the Since their earliest appearance in the form of food and drink vessels,
present camel is an exceptional example of a sancai sculpture created the array of necessities for the afterlife expanded their scope as
during the Tang dynasty. The extraordinary sense of realism, conveyed society evolved and burials became increasingly closer to the spaces
by the forward moving posture of the creature, enhanced by the strong and contents of life. This gradual change, initiated during the Warring
and slender legs, highly detailed with tendons and naturalistic tufts States period (475–221 BC), probably resulted from the need to
of dark fur, and the tall humps, gently swaying to either side of the satisfy an underground bureaucracy that checked the deceased’s
body, shows a remarkable degree of observation on the sculptor’s part possessions before granting them entry into an undisturbed afterlife;
which is rarely otherwise encountered on figures of this period to this see V.Hansen, Negotiating Daily Life in Traditional China: How Ordinary
extraordinary degree. People Used Contracts, 600-1400, New Haven, 1995.

The splendid model would have been individually sculpted and Possibly the forerunner of the practices observed in later times, the
extremely expensive to produce at the time. It would have been mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, First Emperor of China, was described
commissioned for internment in a burial belonging to an elite member by Sima Qian, China’s most celebrated historian (d.86 BC), as an
of the Tang society and deemed to become alive for the benefit of its accurate map of the universe made with miniature replicas of palaces,
owner. Ancestors in China were deemed active participants in the life ever flowing rivers and heavenly bodies; see W.Burton, Sima Qian.
of their living offspring, which they could positively influence if provided Records of the Grand Historian, New York, 1958. Undoubtedly, the
with continuous care. Miniature universes were thus presented in impressive array of 8,000 greater than life-size figures of terracotta
burials filled with a variety of necessities reproduced as painted, warriors, each individually styled and all positioned in large pits
carved or moulded images, which were believed to function like their surrounding the burial chamber, must have been deemed a
real counterpart if provided with the correct features; see J.Rawson, fundamental element for the emperor’s afterlife and probably reflected
‘The Power of Images: The Model Universe of The First Emperor and his fear of being haunted by the evil spirits of the people that he had
Its Legacy,’ Historical Research, 2002, vol.75, no.188, pp.123-54. killed and conquered through his bloody campaigns.
Forming an analogical relation with daily forms, these figures embodied
important social and ideological aspects of their own time. By the Tang dynasty, the burials constructed for the highest-ranking
members of society were decorated in a way that suggested a courtly
architectural compound through painted designs of receiving halls,
garden settings and official gatherings, and contained a large amount
of pottery figures of courtiers, attendants, entertainers, horses and
camels; see E.L.Johnston, ‘Auspicious Motifs In Ninth To Thirteenth-
Century Chinese Tombs’, Ars Orientalis, 2005, vol.33, no.2, pp.33-
75; see also J.Rawson, ‘Creating Universes: Cultural Exchange
As Seen In Tombs In Northern China Between the Han and Tang
Periods’, Between Han and Tang: Cultural and Artistic Interactions
in a Transformative Period, Beijing, 2001, pp.113-152. These figures
referred to frivolous moments of daily life and appeared in conjunction
with a variety of extravagantly shaped vessels and personal ornaments
made of gold, silver, and other precious materials, which reflected the
prosperity of the empire.

In appearance, the present camel recalls the Bactrian camel, which
was imported into China from the areas of the Tarim Basin, eastern
Turkestan and Mongolia. This species was highly regarded by the Tang
emperors who established dedicated offices to oversees the Imperial
camel herds; see E.Schloss, Ancient Chinese Ceramic Sculpture,
Stamford, 1977, vol.2, p.220. The heavy load of pouches, ewers and
animal meat, so vividly slung between the two humps of the creature
by means of hinged slats of wood and poles, recalls the importance
of foreign trade in Tang China. Referred to as ‘the ships of the desert’,
camels endured hot temperatures and were the essential method of
transport for merchants wishing to conduct trade with the oasis cities
of Central Asia, such as Samarkand, Bukhara and Isfahan, along the
trading routes of the Silk Road; E.R.Krauer, The Camel’s Load In Life &
Death, Cambridge, 1998, pp.50-120.

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