Edward Luper
Specialist, Chinese Works of Art
The Property of a Nobleman 男爵藏品
Lot 1
A large painted pottery model of a prancing horse Tang Dynasty
12 May 2016, 10:30 BST
London, New Bond Street£8,000 - £12,000
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A large painted pottery model of a prancing horse
Tang Dynasty
The elegantly prancing horse finely modelled with the right foreleg raised high and the head cocked slightly to the left, with a curving mane above the bulging black eyes, the lively folds of the saddlecloth painted in a rusty orange tone swaying from the saddle painted with floral scrolls, the body with traces of an attractive pinkish colouring.
56.5cm (22 1/4in) high
The elegantly prancing horse finely modelled with the right foreleg raised high and the head cocked slightly to the left, with a curving mane above the bulging black eyes, the lively folds of the saddlecloth painted in a rusty orange tone swaying from the saddle painted with floral scrolls, the body with traces of an attractive pinkish colouring.
56.5cm (22 1/4in) high
Footnotes
唐 陶胎彩繪馬俑
Provenance: a noble European private collection
來源： 歐洲貴族私人收藏
The results of a thermoluminescence test, Oxford Authentication Ltd., No.C101w37 dated 19 September 2001, is consistent with the dating of this lot.
The modelling of the present lot is impressive for its sense of energetic movement. The finely painted, unglazed finish complements such confident, lively modelling, allowing the art of the potter to dominate. The Tang emperor Xuanzong (reigned AD712-756), a great patron of the arts, famously kept a trained troupe of horses for his entertainment at court and this may explain the presence of this type of refined prancing horse amongst contemporary tomb furniture.
For a related sculpture in the Idemitsu Museum, Tokyo, dated to the first half of the 8th century, with similarly curling saddle cloth and raised right foreleg, but also with a seated lady rider, see W.Watson, La Céramique Tang et Liao, Fribourg, 1984, p.194. For a smaller but similarly modelled horse see an example in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, no.67.62.2.
A related horse with similarly high raised foreleg, Tang dynasty, was sold at Christie's New York, 21 March 2013, lot 1161.
