Page 76 - Chinese pottery and porcelain : an account of the potter's art in China from primitive times to the present day

26 Chinese Pottery and Porcelain

not only in pose and style and in the cliaracteristic rendering of
the head and neck, but also in the details of the harness, the saddle
with high arched front and shelving back support, the square
stirrups, bridle and bit and tassel-like pendant under the mouth.

A complete set of grave goods from a tomb opened by the Lao-

tung railway near Lao Yang in the Honan Fu have been acquired
by the British Museum through a railway engineer on the spot.
They may be taken as a typical and, I believe, quite reliable, example
of the grave furniture of a T'ang personage of importance. They
include six covered jars of graceful oval form, made of hard white

ware and coated with thin glaze of pale yellowish or faint green

tint, which ends in the characteristic T'ang fashion in a wavy line
several inches above the base. They measure about thirteen inches

in height. These are presumed to have held the six kinds of grain.
Next comes a graceful vase, probably for Avine, with ovoid body,
tall, slender neck, with two horizontal bands, a cup-shaped mouth,
and two high, elegantly carved handles with serpent heads which
bite on to the rim (Plate 14, Fig. 2). The only other vessels were a
circular tray, on which stood a small, squat vase, with trilobe sides,
small mouth, and three rudimentary feet, surrounded by seven
shallow cups. Like the wine vase and covered jars, these have
flat bases, in most cases carefully smoothed and lightly bevelled
a.t the edge.^ The retinue consisted of a charming figure of a lady
on a horse, eight other ladies (probably of the harem) with high,
peaked head-dress, low-necked dresses with high waists, and a

shawl over the shoulders and falling down from the arms like two
long sleeves ; natural feet are indicated in every case. With these

were two figures of priestly appearance, with long cloaks and hoods,

three other men in distinctive costumes, eleven retainers in civil

costume with peaked head-gear, long coats with lappets open at
the neck, waist belts, and high boots, their right hands held across

the breast and their left at the side. One of these figures is remark-
able for his foreign features, w^ith exaggerated and pointed nose, sug-
gesting a Western Asiatic origin. There are, besides, four men,
apparently in armour, and two tall figures who seem to wear cap
helmets with camail falling down the neck and breast armour,

recalling in many ways our own mediaeval men-at-arms. The

supernatural element is represented by two strange, squatting

^ Another common characteristic of the T'ang base is a central ring, or one or two

concentric circles incised on the wheel.