Page 120 - Bonhams Olivier Collection Early Chinese Art November 2018

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A PAINTED POTTERY FIGURE OF A COURT LADY
Tang Dynasty
Gracefully modelled standing with both hands held in front of the
body, wearing loose colourful robes finely detailed with floral patterns
and reaching the floor revealing the tips of their pointed slippers, the
round face with delicate features highlighted by ruby-red and rosy-pink
pigments beneath the hair dressed in a high double-shaped topknot.
32cm (12 1/2in) high.

£20,000 - 30,000
CNY180,000 - 270,000

唐 陶胎彩繪侍女俑

Provenance:
Ngai Yuen Arts & Antique Pte. Co., 10 December 1999
Gisèle Croës Arts D’Extreme Orient, Brussels, 2005
Jean-Yves Ollivier Collection

來源：
香港古董商藝苑公司，1999年12月10日
布魯塞爾古董商吉賽爾藝廊，2005年
歐宗易先生珍藏

This elegant and full-bodied lady exemplifies the typically high-ranking 侍女作高雲髻，蛾眉，鳳眼，丹唇，面敷粉彩，形態豐盈，身著草綠
female figures of the Tang Court, reflecting the increasingly sedentary 長袍，上點三辦花紋，腰繫黑帶，身作前傾。
and luxurious lifestyle of the Tang elites.
仕女袍服上所飾的花卉紋飾可能取材自當時的緞繡製品，忠實地反映
In the Tang period, it was common to beautify female faces with 當時宮廷宮女的風尚，詳見大英博物館藏一軸唐代緞繡織錦，館藏編
extensive make-up. Rouged cheeks and lips, bold and thick eyebrows, 號MAS856。對比一尊相似的唐代仕女俑，載於J-P. Descroches著，
and gaudy ornaments between the eyebrows and at the temples 《Compagnons d’éternité》，巴黎，1996年，頁251。另一尊可資比
were in vogue at the time. Blush was often applied to the cheeks, 對的例子，為大阪美術館舊藏，2017年3月17日於紐約佳士得拍賣，
reaching the eyelids, to resemble the complexion tone achieved 拍品1134。
by drinking wine, which was thought to imbue women with greater
grace. A great number of styles for eyebrows also appear to have Oxford Authentication Ltd公司熱釋光檢測結果（2018年8月1日，編
been popular, ranging from willow-leaf to extremely broad and thick 號C118j31）顯示年代與本拍品年代一致。
styles. Eyebrow grooming was considered a synonym for marital love.
Zhang Chang, a Tang governor, was allegedly arrested for personally
pencilling in his wife’s eyebrows every day, a major violation of feudal
conduct and male behaviour. However, he successfully argued his
way out of punishment by declaring that his wife’s eyebrows were the
deepest part of marital intimacy. The emperor, clearly touched by his
husbandly love, finally granted him freedom. For references about Tang
cosmetics, see E.Schafer, The Early History of Lead Pigments and
Cosmetics in China, in Toung Pao, 1956, vol.44, pp.413-438.

The floral designs depicted on the flowing robes may have represented
the extravagant floral scrolls and medallions actually employed on
Tang dynasty silk textiles. The flowers appearing on this lady’s garment
are similar to those on a fragment of a Tang dynasty silk in the British
Museum (acc.no.MAS856).

Compare with a similar painted pottery figure of a court lady, Tang
dynasty, displaying a similar, upswept double topknot coiffure,
illustrated by J-P. Desroches, Compagnons d’éternité, Paris, 1996,
p.251.

A similar pottery figure of a court lady, Tang dynasty, formerly in the
Osaka Museum of Art, was sold at Christie’s New York, 17 March
2017, lot 1134.

The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test
no.C118j31, dated 1 August 2018, is consistent with the dating of
this lot.

For details of the charges payable in addition to the final Hammer Price of each Lot
116 | BONHAMS please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue.