Page 64 - Nov 29 2017 HK Important Chinese Ceramics

PROPERTY FROM THE CHINHUATANG COLLECTION
2919
A FINELY PAINTED POTTERY FIGURE OF A 唐 彩繪陶駱駝及騎駝俑
BACTRIAN CAMEL AND RIDER
TANG DYNASTY (618-907) 騎駝俑為一漢人，頭戴幞頭，著寬袖長袍，腳蹬高靴，側身而坐。駱駝
立於陶踏板上，胎呈白色，色調以赭、黄為主，其仰天昂首，雙目圓睜，
The figure is modelled to show a young rider, dressed in a long 張口露齒，舌抵上顎作嘶鳴狀，頭頂、頸背及兩腿上部飾有鬃毛。
sleeved tunic and boots, riding astride a camel, with his body
bent slightly to the side. The camel, painted in buff, brick-red 來源
and greyish black pigments over white slip, is standing foursquare 德馨書屋舊藏，台北，1995 年
on a trapezoid base with head raised and mouth wide open as if 金華堂珍藏
braying, showing realistically rendered teeth, palate and tongue. It
is enhanced with tufted hair on the neck, head, humps and tops of 著錄
the legs, and has well-detailed eyelashes. 鴻禧美術館，《千禧年清翫雅集收藏展》，台北，2000 年，
23 ¬ in. (60 cm.) high 頁 157，圖版 62 號
HK$5,000,000-8,000,000 US$650,000-1,000,000 是件彩繪陶駱駝及騎駝俑充份反映唐代絲路繁榮之景象。駱駝、胡人的
大量出現，證明唐代絲路貿易、對外開拓的精神。胡人多指波斯或西域
PROVENANCE
The Dexinshuwu Collection, Taipei, 1995 商人，而雙峰駱駝更承擔起東西方貿易交換的重任，成為當時最常見的
The Chinhuatang Collection, Taipei 交通工具。唐代的騎駝俑成為盛唐時西域人東來中夏的遺產標誌。
唐代騎駝俑大量的出現在這個時期，其燒製數量之多，質量之精，代表
LITERATURE
Chang Foundation, Ching Wan Society Millennium Exhibition, 了唐代寫實雕塑藝術的高峰。相較於其它以描繪粟特人或突厥人一類的
Taipei, 2000, p. 157, pl. 62 胡人俑而言，這件漢人騎馱俑著實少見。可參考一件頭戴尖頂帽的胡人
騎馱俑，其於 1954 年於陜西省長治市出土，現已入藏中國國家博物館，
This camel appears to belong to a group of Tang pottery that often 並收錄於《中國文物精華大辭典：陶瓷卷》，頁54；另有一件著同類服裝，
includes travellers, musicians and camel riders. The present example
reflects a world in which Tang China, one of the greatest empires in 但卻無明顯鬃毛的騎駝俑，則可參見《徐氏藝術館：I》，香港，1993 年，
the medieval world, was marked by successful diplomatic relationships, 圖版 96 號。
economic expansion and a cultural efflorescence of cosmopolitan style.
At the time, the Tang elites imitated the dress style of the Persians, 阿姆斯特丹佳士得於 2002 年 5 月 7-8 日，拍品 191 號亦為一套胡人騎
wearing high boots and short tunics. Nothing is more representative 駝俑之近似例。
of this cultural milieu than the figure of the Bactrian camel which, not
indigenous to China, used to haul goods along the silk roads leading 有關雙峰駱駝之資料，見 Ezekiel Schloss，《Ancient Chinese Ceramic
out of China across its Western regions and into Central Asia and Sculpture》，斯坦福德，1977 年，下冊，頁 220。
beyond. It came to be one of the best known icons of Chinese ceramic
art, dating from the early to the mid-Tang dynasty. 此器經牛津熱釋光測年法檢測（測試編號 C298j91；1999 年 1 月 11 日），
證實與本圖錄之定年符合。
These groups of Tang pottery are remarkably realistic and each model
appears to be unique, reflecting a growing interest in naturalism during
the Tang period. The appearance of Chinese rider in this context is highly
unusual. Figures of foreigners, perhaps a Turk or Sogdian, are generally
used in such groupings of Tang pottery. A related large painted pottery
group of camel and foreign rider, dressed in a fur coat and wearing
a large pointed hat, excarated at Changzhi, Shaanxi province in 1954
and now in the Museum of Chinese History, Beijing, was illustrated in
Zhongguo wenwu jinghua dacidian: taoci juan, p.154. An example of a
Central Asian rider wearing similar clothes, but without tufts of hair on
the camel, is illustrated in The Tsui Museum of Art, Chinese Ceramics I,
Hong Kong, 1993, plate 96.
For another related painted pottery group of camel and foreign groom,
see the one sold at Christie’s Amsterdam, 7-8 May 2002, lot 191.
For a discussion on Bactrian camels, see Ezekiel Schloss, Ancient
Chinese Ceramic Sculpture, Stamford, 1977, vol. II, p. 220.
The result of Oxford Authentication thermoluminescence test no.
C298j91 (11 January 1999) is consistent with the dating of this lot.

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