Page 232 - CHRISTIE'S Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art 09/14 - 15 / 17

THE PROPERTY OF A MIDWEST COLLECTOR

1114

TWO RARE GLAZED AND PAINTED POTTERY FIGURES
OF EQUESTRIANS
TANG DYNASTY (AD 618-907)

Each rider is shown seated astride a muscular horse standing foursquare with
head turned alertly to the sides and ears pricked, his hands positioned to hold
reins. Each wears a reddish tunic tied at the waist and tall black-painted boots,
and his face is fnely detailed in black below the tall cap. One horse is glazed a
deep chestnut-brown, the other an unusual pale green.

16 in. (40.6 cm.) high, the tallest (2)
$30,000-50,000

PROVENANCE

Sing’s Antique Gallery, Hong Kong, 13 June 1997.

It is very rare to fnd Tang-dynasty equestrian fgures with the horses
decorated in brown and pale green glazes; chestnut and cream-tone glazes
are more commonly found. While large horses of the period are known to
have been covered in the dark brown-chestnut glaze, it is unusual to fnd
on an equestrian fgure of this smaller size. For a few other rare examples
of related equestrian fgures with brown and pale green-glazed horses see:
Christie’s New York, 15-16 March 2015, lot 3228, for a rare dark-chestnut
piebald example; He Li, Chinese Ceramics, A New Comprehensive Survey,
New York, 1996, pp. 100-101, no. 185, for a brown-glazed example; J.P.
Desroches, Compagnons d’éternité, Paris, 1996, p. 211, for a pale-green-
glazed version not as richly applied as the present example.

唐 三彩騎馬男俑兩件

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