CHINESE TANG DYNASTY TERRACOTTA HORSE - TL TESTED
Ca. 618-907 AD.
A beautiful terracotta free-standing horse with a long neck artistically turned up. The animal has a white-coloured body, short mane and docked tail. A cloth is draped over the saddle, which shows traces of the original pigments. Warhorses were the pride of the Tang, a dynasty of prosperity, military expansion, and artistic achievement.For more information on the importance of horses in China, see: Cooke, B. (ed.) (2000). Imperial China - The Art of the Horse in Chinese History: Exhibition Catalogue. Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington. For more general information on the Tang Dynasty, see: Benn, C. (2002). Daily Life in Traditional China: The Tang Dynasty. Westport: Greenwood Press and Watt, J. C. Y., et al. (2004). China: Dawn of a Golden Age, 200-750 A.D. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. This piece has been precisely dated by means of a Thermo Luminescence analysis No. C123a55 carried out by Oxford Authentication, UK. The TL certificate will accompany this lot. Good condition, neck area has some restoration.
Size: L:630mm / W:570mm ; 10.32kg
Provenance: Private UK family collection; acquired in the early 1990s.
Estimate: GBP 4500 - 9000