Page 68 - Bonhams Fine Chinese Art London Nov. 2019

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A PAINTED POTTERY MODEL OF A BACTRIAN
CAMEL AND RIDER
Tang Dynasty
Superbly modelled with a foreign rider sitting on top of a recumbent
Bactrian camel, the rider perched forward and leaning slightly to the
left with its right arm clasping the camel’s hump, the wide lapels of his
fur-lined jacket thrown open, the face with inquisitive expression as
if looking in the far distance, the camel with bulging eyes and flared
nostrils gazing into the same direction as the rider, the body painted in
ochre and red pigments, with orange detail to the nose and black to
the eyes, the saddle cloth decorated with sylised floral patterns in red,
green and black.
48cm (19in) long.
£30,000 - 50,000
CNY270,000 - 440,000

唐 騎駝胡人俑

Provenance: Ben Janssens Oriental Art Ltd., London, 6 July 2001
John J. Studzinski CBE, London

來源：英國倫敦古董商，Ben Janssens Oriental Art Ltd.，2001年7月6日
大英帝國司令勳章受勳者John J. Studzinski珍藏

The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test
no. C101g22, dated 5 April 2001, is consistent with the dating of
this lot.

Oxford Authentication Ltd公司熱釋光檢測結果（2001年4月5日，
編號C101g22）顯示年代與本拍品年代一致。

Recumbent camels with non-Chinese riders are rare and the Vast riches poured into the Tang capital, Chang’an, from the Silk Road.
animated pose of the rider, his expression and the texture of his Merchants came from far afield to acquire silk, bamboo and lacquer
sheep-skin coat have been masterfully rendered. From the 6th wares, and imported perfumes, horse and jewels. Through most of
century and throughout the entire Tang dynasty, the Bactrian camel the Tang dynasty, the capital cities of Chang’an and Luoyang were
frequently appears among the tomb figures of China. The camel cosmopolitan centres, where men and women of different races and
was an essential means of transporting merchants and merchandise religions coexisted in relative freedom. The all embracing attitude adopted
along the Silk Road into China. It was imported from the areas of by Tang dynasty Taizong emperor, facilitated the cultural exchanges
the Tarim Basin, eastern Turkestan and Mongolia. This species was between the Han Chinese and the foreigners. Travellers included
highly regarded by the Tang emperors who established dedicated Songdians, Turks, Uighurs, Arabs, Mongols, Persians and Indians. For
offices to oversees the imperial camel herd. Referred to as the reference see E.Schafer, The Golden Peaches of Samarkand: A Study
ships of the desert, camels endured hot temperatures and were the of Tang Exotics, Berkeley, 1963, pp.7-40. See also E.R. Krauer, The
essential method of transport for merchants wishing to conduct trade Camel’s Load In Life & Death, Cambridge, 1998, pp.50-120.
with the oasis cities of Central Asia, such as Samarkand, Bukhara
and Isfahan, along the trading routes of the Silk Road. A related recumbent camel with a foreign rider is illustrated in Shaanxi
Provincial Museum, Xi’an, 1983, pl.58; another recumbent camel with
a Persian rider is illustrated in the Handbook, for the Nelson Gallery of
Art- Atkins Museum, vol.II, Kansas City, 1973, p.82.

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