Page 8 - Bonhams May 12 16 London

THE PROPERTY OF A NOBLEMAN 男爵藏品

1 WT
A LARGE PAINTED POTTERY MODEL OF A PRANCING HORSE
Tang Dynasty
The elegantly prancing horse finely modelled with the right foreleg
raised high and the head cocked slightly to the left, with a curving
mane above the bulging black eyes, the lively folds of the saddlecloth
painted in a rusty orange tone swaying from the saddle painted with
floral scrolls, the body with traces of an attractive pinkish colouring.
56.5cm (22 1/4in) high

£8,000 - 12,000 CNY73,000 - 110,000
HK$88,000 - 130,000

唐 陶胎彩繪馬俑

Provenance: a noble European private collection

來源： 歐洲貴族私人收藏

The results of a thermoluminescence test, Oxford Authentication
Ltd., No.C101w37 dated 19 September 2001, is consistent with
the dating of this lot.

The modelling of the present lot is impressive for its sense of energetic
movement. The finely painted, unglazed finish complements such
confident, lively modelling, allowing the art of the potter to dominate.
The Tang emperor Xuanzong (reigned AD712-756), a great patron of
the arts, famously kept a trained troupe of horses for his entertainment
at court and this may explain the presence of this type of refined
prancing horse amongst contemporary tomb furniture.

For a related sculpture in the Idemitsu Museum, Tokyo, dated to the
first half of the 8th century, with similarly curling saddle cloth and
raised right foreleg, but also with a seated lady rider, see W.Watson,
La Céramique Tang et Liao, Fribourg, 1984, p.194. For a smaller but
similarly modelled horse see an example in the Metropolitan Museum
of Art, New York, no.67.62.2.

A related horse with similarly high raised foreleg, Tang dynasty, was
sold at Christie’s New York, 21 March 2013, lot 1161.

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