Page 73 - Bonhams Fine Chinese Art London Nov. 2019

The Bactrian camel was brought into China from the Tarim Basin, By the Tang dynasty, the tombs constructed for the highest-ranking
eastern Turkestan and Mongolia. This species was highly regarded by members of society were decorated in a way that suggested a courtly
the Tang emperors who established dedicated offices to oversee the architectural compound through painted designs of receiving halls, garden
imperial camel herds. The heavy load of pouches, ewers and animal settings and official gatherings, furnished with a large number of pottery
meat, so vividly slung between the two humps of the exquisite camel figures of courtiers, attendants, entertainers, horses and camels. These
by means of an elaborate structure of hinged slats of wood and figures represented of daily life and are found in conjunction with a variety
poles, recalls the importance of foreign trade in Tang China. Referred of extravagantly shaped vessels and personal ornaments made of gold,
to as ‘the ships of the desert,’ camels endured hot temperatures silver, and other precious materials, which reflected the prosperity of the
and were the essential method of transport for merchants wishing empire. A sancai-glazed camel, Tang dynasty, bearing different goods
to conduct trade with the cities of Central Asia, such as Samarkand, on its pannier, was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 November 2016, lot
Bukhara and Isfahan, along the trading routes of the Silk Road. 3305; another was sold at Christie’s New York, 20 September 2005, lot
191. Compare also with a larger but related sancai-glazed camel, Tang
dynasty, which was sold at Bonhams London, 8 November 2018, lot 28.