Page 10 - Bonhams, FIne Chinese Art, Linda Wrigglesworth Collection, May 13, 2021 London

1
A PAINTED POTTERY MODEL OF AN OX
Tang Dynasty
Naturalistically modelled standing confidently
four-square on a rectangular base with
detailed facial features, with rounded eyes,
flaring nostrils, and an open mouth beneath a
pair of pricked ears, the strapwork harnesses
across its rump and head relief moulded with
raised circular bosses, retaining the original
red pigment.
26cm (10 1/4in) long.

£4,000 - 6,000
CNY36,000 - 54,000

唐 彩繪陶牛

Pottery models of animals were incorporated
in burials within a complex of furnishing,
which included figures of courtiers, soldiers,
attendants, as well as scenes of daily
entertainment, aimed at sustaining the
ancestors in their afterlife. Related pottery
figures of oxen, Tang dynasty, are illustrated
by Qin Tingyu, Zhongguo Gudai Taosu Yishu,
Shanghai, 1955, pl.50; see another example,
Tang dynasty, illustrated by M.Prodan, The
Art of the T’ang Potter, London, 1960, pl.61,
1 from the Eumorfopoulos collection, now in the
British Museum, London.
Compare with a related pottery model of an
ox, Tang dynasty, which was sold at Sotheby’s
London, 9 November 2016, lot 286.

2 *

A LONGQUAN CELADON-GLAZED ‘RAM’
WATER DROPPER
Ming Dynasty
Modelled as a recumbent ram resting upon
tucked-in hind legs, its head slightly raised
and its bulging eyes in an alert expression,
the horns and fur to the face and between
the fore and hind legs highlighted with small
russet splashes, covered in celadon glaze.
12cm (4 5/8in) long.

£1,500 - 2,000
CNY14,000 - 18,000

明 龍泉窯青釉臥羊硯滴

Glazed pottery models of recumbent rams
were often made as playful objects for the
scholar’s desk from at least the third century
AD in northern Zhejiang and southern Jiangsu
Province. See for example a green-glazed
yue model of a recumbent ram, 3rd century
2 AD, illustrated in 6000 years of Chinese Art,
San Francisco, 1983, no.57. See also a rare
‘yue’ figure of a recumbent ram, Western Jin
dynasty, which was sold at Christie’s London,
6 November 2019, lot 127.

For details of the charges payable in addition to the final Hammer Price of each Lot
8 | BONHAMS please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue.