Page 135 - Bonhams Chinese and Himalayan Paintings June 2016

PROPERTY FROM THE MONTEREY MUSEUM OF ART, Burial figures of such large size were manufactured for tombs
SOLD TO BENEFIT THE MUSEUM FUNDS belonging to the upper echelons of High Tang society. First discovered
in the opening years of the 20th century, these figures have continued
8239 to be excavated in recent years. See, for example the sancai glazed
A LARGE SANCAI GLAZED GUARDIAN FIGURE pottery warrior figure unearthed in the eastern suburbs of i’an in 1984
Tang dynasty (Published in The Gems of Cultural Relics Compiled by the Shaanxi
Standing with his raised right hand clenched to hold a now vanished Provincial Museum, Shaanxi lu you chu ban she, 1992, p. 94, 86.7cm
weapon and his left hand raised to ward off intruders, reinforced by high); and a civil o cial in sancai glaze excavated from Guanlin in the
a fearsome visage to his unglazed head while his armor and trailing city of Loyang, Henan (Published in the exhibition, Imperial Tombs of
garments, boots and pierced rockery base are splashed or brushed China, Memphis, 1995, p. 113, 107cm high).
with green, amber and straw colored glazes.
40 3/4in (103.5cm) high A sancai glazed guardian figure from the Springfield Museums,
Springfield Massachusetts, virtually identical to this lot, was sold
$30,000 - 50,000 in Christies, New York, sale 2689, 21-22 March 2013, lot 1162
(42in/106.7cm high). See also the sancai glazed standing dignitary of
唐 三彩 equally impressive size sold in Bonhams, San Francisco, sale 20982,
24 June 2013, lot 1172 (47 1/2in/120.5cm high).

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