Page 150 - March 17 2017 Chinese Art NYC, Christies
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A PAINTED POTTERY FIGURE OF A COURT LADY
TANG DYNASTY (AD 618-907)
The lady is modeled standing gracefully with both hands held in front of her body, and her full face with
small, delicate features upturned beneath the hair dressed in a high double topknot. There are traces of
rosy-pink pigment on the cheeks and pinkish-ochre pigment on the robe which is belted low on the hips.
17æ in. (44.9 cm.) high, wood stand, Japanese wood box with Mayuyama seal
$20,000-30,000
PROVENANCE
Mayuyama, Tokyo, prior to 1976.
LITERATURE
Mayuyama, Seventy Years, vol. 1, Tokyo, 1976, p. 68, no. 181.
Sui to no bijutsu (The Art of the Sui and Tang Dynasties), Osaka Museum of Art, 1976, p. 23, no. 1-188.
This charming fgure belongs to the category of Tang female fgures made during the 8th century when
the fashion at court was for women of a fuller fgure, and therefore robes of a style looser than those
seen during the 7th century, when the fashion was for a more slender fgure and tight-ftting costume.
A group of four painted red pottery fgures of court ladies illustrated by J. Baker in Seeking Immortality:
Chinese Tomb Sculpture from the Schloss Collection, The Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, 1996, p. 34,
fg. 17, are representative of this 8th century aesthetic. All of these fgures have a similar full face with
small features and an elaborate hair-do, and three wear loose robes with full sleeves in which their hands
are hidden. One of the fgures, however, has the robe belted low on the hips with a sash in a manner
similar to that seen on the present fgure. Also, unlike the other three fgures, her hands are exposed and
held in front in a manner similar to the present fgure, and on one hand a bird is perched. This fgure also
has a similar, upswept double topknot coifure, so named and illustrated in a line drawing by E. Schloss
in Ancient Chinese Ceramic Sculpture: From Han Through T’ang, Stamford, 1977, p. 153, fg. 65. Another
line drawing on p. 145, fg. 24, shows a fgure similar to the present fgure. See, also, the similar fgure
illustrated by J.-P. Desroches, Compagnons d’éternité, Musée Guimet, 1996, p. 251, no. MA 4677.
唐 彩繪陶仕女俑
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