Page 90 - Bonhams Scholars Art and Instruments Hong Kong December 2, 2021

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A PAIR OF PAINTED BUFF POTTERY FIGURES OF FEMALE AND MALE POLO
PLAYERS
Tang Dynasty
The female rider with hair dressed in a double topknot, wearing a long tunic worn off the right
shoulder to free her raised right arm, with the body bending slightly to the side and the head
positioned to follow the ball, the horse standing squarely with ears pricked forward and mouth
agape; the male rider wearing a hat and bending his upper body forward, with left hand in the
posture of waving downwards a polo mallet, the horse in the similar position as the other one,
but with head slight turning to the left, some red and black pigment remaining, the body of a
milky white tone, box.
34cm (13 1/2in) high; 31cm (12 1/4in) high. (4).

HKD300,000 - 400,000
US$39,000 - 51,000
唐 白胎彩繪馬球俑一對

Polo probably was introduced to China sometime between the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty
and the early part of the Tang Dynasty. It probably was introduced by the Xianbei tribes that
controlled northern China from the 4th to 6th century. The Xianbei, because of their nomadic
origins, had a great fondness for horses, a trait that (like many aspects of their culture) was
inherited by the Chinese of the Tang Dynasty, and became a popular sport for both males and
females from the upper classes.

Unlike scholars in the Han Dynasty or Song Dynasty and afterwards, mainly engaged in
intellectual activities such as composing poems or viewing antiquities, scholars and educated
celebrities from the upper class participated in many sports during gatherings in the Tang
Dynasty. Scholars might not ride horses and wave polo sticks in the field; they however, wrote
poems after watching the game. Han Yu (768-824), one of the most important poets in the
mid-Tang Dynasty, composed a poem about a famous polo competition, in which he described
the size of the field, rules, dresses and other details of the polo game in 8th century China.

白胎陶質，燒結細膩潔白，一尊塑造一位雙髻少女，著翻領小袖長衣，右臂袒露揮杆，左右挽韁，
胯下馬直立，口微張，雙耳直立前探；另一尊男俑頭戴幞頭，身前躬，右手持杆下揮，馬頭左擰，
口大張嘶鳴貌，人物略有彩繪，眉目頭飾染黑色， 唇及雙靴塗紅彩。

馬球又稱「擊鞠」，東漢後期曹植《名都篇》曾有「連騎擊鞠壤，巧捷惟萬端」之句，可能早於東漢，
馬球已經出現在中土。其來源之說雜陳，有說源自鮮卑或波斯或吐蕃，至唐代馬球在中國十分
流行，上層男女老少皆好此運動。唐代的文人雅集不同於前後朝代，文人們不止組織曲水流觴
等文靜活動，亦會參與更多體育運動。中唐詩人韓愈與張建封分別就一場馬球比賽分別唱和一
首詩，即《汴泗交流贈張僕射》及《酧韓校書愈打球歌》。

88 | BONHAMS