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PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION
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A MASSIVE CAPARISONED SANCAI-GLAZED FERGHANA Sancai horses of this rare type are distinguished by their foliate-based
HORSE ‘metal’ trappings. The elaborate trappings characteristically show the
Tang Dynasty influence of Sassanian art on that of 8th century China. The complex,
Standing foursquare on a rectangular base, with head turned very jewel-like decorations applied to the harness of this horse are mirrored
slightly to its left, with hogged mane and tail, its powerful chestnut in other Chinese decorative arts of the period. The present foliate
body adorned with exceedingly well-modeled apricot-leaf trappings plaques are known as ‘hazel leaf’ or ‘apricot leaf.’ For actual examples
over the hind quarters, saddle and around the lower neck and head, of similar gilt-bronze ornaments unearthed from the tomb of Princess
a removable saddle ‘pommel’ to the center of the upper hind area Yongtai, buried in 706, see Y. Mino and J. Robinsion, Beauty and
behind the saddle, all under vivid glazes of green, yellow, beige and a Tranquility: The Eli Lilly Collection of Chinese Art, Indianapolis Museum
mottled brown of Art, 1983, pl. 61, fig. E.
28 1/2in (72.2cm) high; 31 3/4in (80.7cm) long
The most magnificent horses, immortalized in Chinese literature and
$20,000 - 30,000 the visual arts, were the Ferghana horses introduced into central
China from the West during the Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220).
唐 三彩馬 This beautifully modeled horse captures the spirit and power of this
celebrated animal.
A near-identically caparisoned horse of the same size and posture
is exhibited at the Museum Of Fine Arts Boston, accession number The results of Oxford Thermoluminescence test, no. C119a8 (from
46.478 formerly in the Mrs. John Gardner Coolidge Collection, see three areas: the hind quarters, the belly and the head) are consistent
www.mfa.org/ collections/object/horse-19383. The major difference with a Tang dynasty dating.
between the two is the ground color, blue in the MFA example, and
the more usual tri-colored glaze of ours. The hangings attached to the
strapwork around the body and head might have been cast from the
same mold, so similar are they. The same applies to the shape of the
saddle and saddle cloth. The other obvious differences are the plain
under-saddle cloth and the wavy mane.

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