Live Auction 3001The Decorative Arts Sale
A sancai-glazed pottery figure of a horse
Lot 368

A sancai-glazed pottery figure of a horse

TANG DYNASTY (618-907)

Closed4 April 2012

Price Realised

EUR 10,625

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A sancai-glazed pottery figure of a horse
Tang dynasty (618-907)
Modelled standing four-square on an unglazed rectangular base, the head raised and turning slightly to the left, the saddle and upturned short tail unglazed, the saddle mounts covered in a green glaze, the horse's body covered in light brown and ochre glazes
53 cm. high

Specialist note

Horses were of great importance during the Tang dynasty, serving the needs of the Emperor down to the humblest merchants and soldiers, both Chinese and foreign. As E. Schäfer notes in The Golden Peaches of Samarkand, Berkeley, 1963, p. 59, the horse 'was invested with sanctity by ancient tradition, endowed with prodigious qualities, and visibly stamped with the marks of his divine origin. A revered myth proclaimed him a relative of the dragon, akin to the mysterious powers of water.

This lot was bought on 6 January 1977 from Tarica, Saint-Honore, France.
The dating of this lot is conistent with the result of the thermoluminescence test LABOR Ralf Kotalla number 990625.