Page 196 - Christies Fine Chinese Works of Art March 2016 New York

1476

A VERY RARE PAINTED DARK GREY POTTERY FIGURE OF A
MILITARY OFFICIAL
NORTHERN WEI DYNASTY (AD 386-534)

The well-modeled fgure is shown standing with his hands clasped
on his long, sheathed sword, and is fnely modeled and carved in high
relief on the front to depict his short, red leather breastplate (liang tang
gai), fastened with buckled straps at the shoulders to a fat, slightly
curved backplate of waisted outline with projecting corners worn
over a tight-ftting tunic with long, sleeves, and voluminous trousers
that are gathered at the knees and fare at the bottom. His face is
modeled with a gentle, smiling expression, and he wears a black court
cap affxed with a white hat pin. There are extensive remains of red,
black, pink and white pigments.

14¡ in. (36.5 cm.) high, lucite stand

$25,000-35,000

PROVENANCE

Important Chinese Ceramic Sculpture; Selected Masterpieces from the
Schloss Collection; Sotheby’s New York, 3 December 1984, lot 39.

EXHIBITED

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Arts of Ancient
China, 1973.
China Institute, New York, Arts of the Six Dynasties, 29 October - 1
February 1976, p. 48, pl. 23.

LITERATURE

Annette L. Juliano, Arts of the Six Dynasties, China Institute, New York
1975, no. 23.
Ezekiel Schloss, Ancient Chinese Sculpture from Han through T’ang, 2
vols., Stamford, Connecticut, 1977, vol. II, pl. 35, vol. I, pp. 190-91.

This fnely modeled fgure displays a two-dimensional quality, with the front
of the fgure modeled and carved in the round, while the back is left fat
and incised with simple details. This two-dimensionality is combined with
symmetry and angular lines, which are seen in other grey pottery fgures of
the Northern Wei period, as well as in gilt-bronze, Buddhist fgures of early
sixth century date, such as the fgure of Buddha illustrated by A. Juliano in
Art of the Six Dynasties, China Institute in America, New York, 1975, no. 49,
which also displays the same gentle smile seen on the present fgure, a smile
characteristic of Northern Wei fgures.

The present fgure represents an oficial wearing armor over his usual court
attire, which is exemplifed by the fgure of an oficial illustrated by A. Juliano
in Bronze, Clay and Stone: Chinese Art in the C. C. Wang Family Collection,
Seattle/London, 1988, pl. 33. The short tunic, full pants tied at the knees
and the court cap of this fgure, and the present fgure, are similar to those
of three fgures of oficials from the tomb of Yuan Shao, dated AD 528, near
Luoyang, Henan province, one illustrated by Juliano in the Appendix, no. 33.
Figures of oficials wearing armor and holding a sword, however, appear to
be rare. Two larger fgures have been published: one (87.6 cm.) by R. L. Thorp
and V. Bower, Spirit and Ritual: The Morse Collection of Ancient Art, The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1982, no. 24, the other (43 cm.) in
Mayuyama, Seventy Years, Tokyo, 1976, pl. 158. The armor of all three fgures
consists of a breastplate and back plate with angular corners. The corners of
the backplate on the present fgure have a more pronounced fare than those
of the backplates of the other two fgures, which is very well illustrated in
line drawings by E. Schloss in Ancient Chinese Ceramic Sculpture from Han
Through T’ang, 2 vols., Stamford, Connecticut, 1977, vol. I, p. 138, no. 7, which
emphasize the angularity of the outlines of the armor.

The result of Oxford thermoluminescence test no. 366h93 is consistent with
the dating of this lot.

北魏 彩繪灰陶武官立俑
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