Bruce Maclaren
Global Head, Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy
Lot 195
A LARGE CHESTNUT-GLAZED POTTERY HORSE Tang dynasty
21 September 2020, 12:00 EDT
New YorkUS$80,000 - US$100,000
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Dessa Goddard
Senior Vice President, US Head, Asian Art Group
A LARGE CHESTNUT-GLAZED POTTERY HORSE
Tang dynasty
The magnificent steed naturalistically modeled standing foursquare on a rectangular base, the head with pricked ears pulled in slightly and turned to the left, the curved neck grooved to hold a fiber mane, the anatomy rendered with well-defined bone structure and muscular shoulders and rump, an oval aperture in the rear to receive a fiber tail, covered overall with a streaky chestnut brown glaze over ivory on the forehead and hooves.
32 5/6in (83cm) high
The magnificent steed naturalistically modeled standing foursquare on a rectangular base, the head with pricked ears pulled in slightly and turned to the left, the curved neck grooved to hold a fiber mane, the anatomy rendered with well-defined bone structure and muscular shoulders and rump, an oval aperture in the rear to receive a fiber tail, covered overall with a streaky chestnut brown glaze over ivory on the forehead and hooves.
32 5/6in (83cm) high
Footnotes
唐 褐彩陶馬
Provenance
A Dutch private collection
An English private collection, purchased in Hong Kong in the 1990s
來源
荷蘭私人收藏
英國私人收藏，約1990年購於香港
The present lot is unusual for its size and exemplifies the finest of Tang dynasty sculptural art. The horse is modeled in a life-like manner with realistic musculature, and glazed in a natural color. The open mouth and unadorned body indicate that it would have had separately made trappings, such as harness, saddle blanket and saddle, accoutrements often seen molded on caparisoned models. The desire for realism is also borne out by the groove in the neck and the aperture in the rear made to hold a fiber tail and mane, probably made of real horse hair that has long since disappeared. For a discussion on bronze ornaments found near unadorned horse figurines in tombs, see William Watson, Tang and Liao Ceramics, New York, 1984, p. 200; and Virginia L. Bower and Robert L. Thorp, Spirit and Ritual: The Morse Collection of Ancient Chinese Art, New York, 1982, pp. 66-67.
During the Tang dynasty, the horse was the emblem of prestige and power, and the present example with its large size, realism and separately made trappings, would have been intended to display the high status of the owner. For smaller Tang dynasty examples see a straw and amber glazed horse sold at Christie's New York, 20 September 2002, lot 257; and a chestnut and straw glazed horse sold in our San Francisco rooms, 26 June 2018, lot 308.
The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test sample number C201d38 19 December 2001 is consistent with the dating of this lot.
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