Lot 207. A rare brown and sancai-glazed pottery figure of a horse, Tang dynasty (618-907). Width 56 cm, Estimate 40,000 - 60,000 USD. Lot sold 22,800 USD. © Sotheby's.

Provenance: Collection of Aurelias Parenti. 
Christie's New York, 3rd June 1988, lot 207.

Exhibited: China House of Arts, New York, 1989.
Reflections of Ancient China, China Gallery, New York, 2005.

Note: The present horse is exceptional for its beautiful sancai-glazed saddle, its rare brown-glazed body, and the unique contrasting pattern of circular dots to the horse's lower back. Masterly sculpted with a muscular body supported on long, powerful legs, the present horse is aptly brought to life by the talented artist. The lively green, straw and amber splatters and drips in variegated tones on the saddle, contrasted with the dark brown glaze of the horse, instilling the piece with a spirited vitality. 

Horses covered in this beautiful dark-brown glaze are rare. A pattern of circular spotting is seen on the horse's lower back, possibly an effort of the artisan to both individualize the animal while explicitly referencing the imperial favor bestowed on horses with a dappled coat.

Compare two horses excavated from the Tang tomb of Prince Jiemin-Li Chongjun in Fuping county in 1995: one covered in a matte-brown glaze, with a similar sancai-glazed saddle and the other covered in a brown glaze with an ochre-colored saddle, illustrated in National Treasure – Collection of Rare Cultural Relics of Shaanxi Province, Xi'an, 1998, pp 183-84. See also, a horse covered in black glaze, in the Luoyang Museum, illustrated in Da Sancai, Sancai from Luoyang Museum and the Liaoning Provincial Museum, 1989, p. 31, no. 11. Compare another black-glazed horse, with a cream-colored mane and elaborate breast straps, sold as a pair with another chestnut-glazed horse, twice in these rooms, the first, 27th March 2003, lot 36, and the second, 17th September 2013, lot 45.

The dating of this lot is consistent with the results of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no. 466k92.

Lot 208. A straw and chestnut-glazed pottery figure of a horse, Tang dynasty (618-907). Width 64.3cm, Estimate 40,000 - 60,000 USD. Lot sold 12,000 USD. © Sotheby's.

Provenance: Colorado Private Collection.
Sotheby's New York, 26th March 1971, lot 134 (cover lot).
Collection of Marcus Giller.
Alan Hartman, New York.
China House of Arts, New York, by 1989.

Exhibited: China House of Arts, New York, 1989.
Reflections of Ancient China, China Gallery, New York, 2005.

Note: Horses have long been a symbol of status and wealth. The representation of a horse of large size and desirable coloration such as the present example reflects the high rank and importance of the owner and his or her family. Furthermore, the artisans who modeled and decorated the piece evince their skill through deft, naturalistic modeling. The horse's body is generously covered in a lustrous straw-colored glaze while the carefully depicted mane is decorated in a warm chestnut-color, harmoniously echoing the four hooves which are also covered in the same brown glaze. 

In the Tang dynasty, the importance of horses rose to new heights and their ownership was strictly regulated. Strong, powerful horses from Central Asia were believed to be mythical steeds that were dragons in disguise. In Lidai minghua ji (Record of famous painters of all periods), Zhang Yanyuan noted that Emperor Xuanzong 'loved large horses and ordered the famed artist Han Gan to paint the most noble of his more than 400,000 steeds', six of these, all bred from the famed Ferghana stock in Central Asia are described by their respective colors: red, purple, scarlet, yellow, 'clove', and 'peach-flower' colored, respectively. The most famous painting, Night-shining White (Zhaoyebai), is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Indeed, Han Gan's distinctive style which captures the animals in spirited movement, emphasizing their rounded and muscular forms while retaining an easy naturalism, can also be observed in the present piece, in which the animal is depicted as powerful, agile and almost celestial.

For an example of a closely-related horse, similarly-molded and decorated but of slightly larger size, see one excavated in Luoyang, Henan province, in 1928, illustrated in Tang sancai / Tri-color Pottery of the T'ang Dynasty, National Museum of History, Taipei, 1977, pl. 37. See a pair of pottery horses, covered in an amber or straw glaze respectively and without a saddle, from the collection of Jay I. Kislak, sold in these rooms, 23rd March 2022, lot 313.

Sotheby's. Chinese Art, New York, 18 September 2024