Page 46 - March 22 2022 Bonhams

PROPERTY FROM THE HAROLD AND RUTH NEWMAN
COLLECTION
137
A PAIR OF PAINTED POTTERY FIGURES OF POLO PLAYERS The popularity of the sport of polo in Tang China is evidenced by the
Tang Dynasty various models of these figures, shown either riding on ‘galloping’
The horses modeled in full gallop with front and back legs horses without support, or on horses firmly standing on rectangular
outstretched and with heads tilted slightly to one side and ears bases. The earliest literary references to stories of Polo-playing within
pricked in a naturalistic pose, the male riders leaning forward and the Imperial elite date to the 7th and 8th centuries. A wall mural
with arms in a game posture, each wearing long tunics with wide found in the tomb of Li Xian, Crown Prince Zhanghuai, datable to the
lapels and a tight fitting cap with rounded top section, the horses years 706-711, is illustrated by J. Fontein and Wu Tung, Han and
bodies with traces of white pigment with painted details, the riders in Tang Murals, Boston, 1976, p. 101, no’s. 122-125, col. pl. 15. See
differing pigments of opposing teams. also R. Harrist, Power and Virtue, The Horse in Chinese Art, Chinese
13 5/8in and 13 1/4in (34.7cm and 33.8cm) length; Institute in America, New York, 1997, pp. 74-75, nos. 11-12, for
11 3/8in and 10 5/8in (29.2cm and 27.2cm) high further discussion of polo playing in Tang China.

$15,000 - 25,000 For a set of three female polo players on ‘galloping’ horses, see
Christie’s, New York, 30 May 1991, lot 263; and another pair at
唐 彩繪陶馬暨馬球球員 Christie’s, New York, 27 November 1991, lot 305.

For other related types see, Qin Yanyu, Zhongquo gudai taoci yishu,
Provenance Shanghai, 1955, pl. 37, for one male and one female rider, apparently
Sotheby’s New York, 19 March 1997, lot 189 excavated in Luoyang, Henan province; Hasobe and Sato, Sekai
The Harold and Ruth Newman Collection, Connecticut, 1997-2022 toji zenshu, vol. 11, Tokyo, 1976, pl. 183 for a single female player
in the Tenri Museum, Japan; and four riders from the Nelson-Atkins
出處： Museum of Art, illustrated in the Handbook of the Collection, Kansas
紐約蘇富比，1997 年 3 月 19 日，拍品第 189 號 City, vol. II, 1973, p. 81.
康州 Harold and Ruth Newman 藏，1997-2022
The result of Oxford thermoluminescence test no. 766y40 is
consistent with the dating of this lot.

44 | BONHAMS