Page 154 - 2021 March 18 to 19th, Important Chinese Works of Art, Christie's New York City

PROPERTY FROM THE HALL IN MEMORY OF CYPRESS (JIBO TANG)
881
A MASSIVE SANCAI-GLAZED POTTERY FIGURE
OF A STRIDING BACTRIAN CAMEL
TANG DYNASTY (AD 618-907)
The camel is shown striding, with the mane, tail, and two
humps highlighted in amber glaze. The head arches strongly
upwards with the mouth agape revealing long pointed
teeth and the tongue. The camel’s back is fitted with a cloth
decorated with diamond pattern and with tufted fur border.
33 in. (83.8 cm.) high

$100,000-150,000
PROVENANCE:
Hung Wu Antiques, Hong Kong, 1999.
The Bactrian camel was not indigenous to China, but
was imported by the tens of thousands from the states
of the Tarim Basin, eastern Turkestan and Mongolia. The
Tang state created a special office to oversee the imperial
camel herds, which were brought into service for transport
and for special military courier missions to the northern
frontier. The camel was also employed by the court and
merchants, making these animals 'ships of the desert'
linking China commercially and culturally to the cities and
trade routes of Central Asia, Persia and the Near East.

The two-humped Bactrian camel, known in China from
as early as the Han dynasty, was originally brought
from Central Asia and Eastern Turkestan as tribute. Its
ability to survive the hardships of travel across the Asian
deserts was soon recognized and Imperial camel herds
were established under the administration of a special
Bureau. These Imperial camel herds, numbering in the
thousands, were used for a range of state duties, including
the provision of a military courier service for the northern
frontier. Camels were not only prized for resilience but also
for their hair, which was used to produce cloth, admired
for its lightness and warmth, and when necessary for their
meat and milk during the long treks.
A striding camel of similar size (84 cm. high), also with
head raised and mouth opened in a bray, with amber-
glazed tufts of hair, in the British Museum, London, is
illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu, vol. 11, Tokyo, 1976, p. 148,
no. 136. Another camel, laden with a large pack with a
monster mask, in the collection of the Idemitsu Museum,
is illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection,
Idemitsu Museum, Tokyo, 1987, no. 48. A massive sancai
and brown-glazed pottery figure of a Bactrian camel was
sold at Christie’s New York, 25 September 2020, lot 1807.

唐 三彩陶駱駝
來源:
於1999年購自香港洪武古董商行。