Lot 18. A pair of painted pottery caparisoned horses, Northern Qi Dynasty (550-577); 36.3cm high and 36.5cm high. (4). Sold for £19,200. © Bonhams 2001-2024

Each horse naturalistically modelled striding on a trapezoidal base, with defined features of an arched neck, elongated head and a long tail, elaborately adorned to the neck with a string of bells, a long knotted cloth draped over the saddle, a crupper decorated with tassels and medallions, with traces of green, white, red, and gold pigments, with display stands.

Provenance: Berwald Oriental Art Ltd., London
A European private collection, acquired from the above on 17 April 2017

Note: A similar painted pottery model of a caparisoned horse was unearthed in Anyang, Henan Province in 1971 from the tomb of Fan Cui (范粹), who served as the Regional Inspector of Liangzhou (涼州刺史). Based on the tomb epitaph, this tomb is dated to the sixth year of the Wuping period of Northern Qi (AD 575). See Henan Museum, 'Excavation Report on the Northern Qi Tomb of Fan Cui in Anyang' (河南安陽北齊范粹墓發掘簡報), Wenwu, 1972, vol.1, pp.47-57, pl.25.

See a similar painted pottery figure of caparisoned horse, Eastern Wei dynasty, which was sold at Christie's New York, 18 September 2003, lot 201. Compare also with a similar painted pottery model of a caparisoned horse, Eastern Wei/Northern Qi dynasty, which was sold at Bonhams San Francisco, on 19 June 2012, lot 6277. See also another single similar painted pottery horse, Northern Dynasties, 6th century, which was sold at Bonhams New York, 16 September 2024, lot 18.

Lot 14. A pair of pale-green-glazed jars and covers, Sui-Tang Dynasty (581-907). Each 23cm (9in) high. (4). Sold for £9,600. © Bonhams 2001-2024

Each of baluster shape, with gently rounded shoulders and an everted rim, the domed cover surmounted by a bud-shaped finial, coated with a white slip and covered with a green tinged transparent glaze inside and out stopping in a irregular curve forming thick glassy drops to the middle of the exterior.

Provenance: Berwald Oriental Art Ltd., London
A European private collection, acquired from the above on 2 July 2003

The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no.P103b16 dated 28 February 2003, is consistent with the dating of this lot. (one of the two jars)

Note: Compare with a similar white-glazed jar and cover, Tang dynasty, illustrated by R.Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol.1, London, 1994, p.139, pl.228. See also a similar white-glazed jar and cover, Tang dynasty, which was sold at Sotheby's London, 8 November 2023, lot 323.

Lot 7. A pottery model of a court lady, Tang dynasty (618-907); 56cm high. (2). Sold for £7,424. © Bonhams 2001-2024

The elegant figure standing slightly swaying, wearing a long, loose-fitting robe with long sleeves, her arms raised in the front with the right hand covering her mouth, the round face painted with a gentle expression beneath a heavy chignon, covered in a white slip, box.

Provenance: a Canadian private collection, circa 1980s

Exhibited: Mandarin Oriental Presidential Suites, Munich, 2007-2010

Note: This full-figured female represents the ideal of beauty during the Tang dynasty, often linked to Yang Guifei, one of China's renowned beauties and the influential concubine of Emperor Xuanzong (r.712–756). A related pottery figure of a court lady, Tang dynasty, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Diao Shi Ru Sheng: Gugong Cang Sui Tang Taoyong, Beijing, 2006, no.41, p.95.; another pottery figure, Tang dynasty, is illustrated in the Museum of Oriental Ceramics: Exhibition of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, 1982, p.21, no.4. See also a related painted pottery figure of a court lady, 8th century, illustrated in The Tsui Museum of Art: Chinese Ceramics I: Neolithic to Liao, Hong Kong, 1993, no.104.

See a large painted pottery figure of a court lady, Tang dynasty, which was sold at Bonhams London, 7 November 2019, lot 44.

Lot 9. A rare and large sancai-glazed model of a Bactrian camel, Tang dynasty (618-907); 81cm high. Sold for £44,800. © Bonhams 2001-2024

The animal powerfully modelled standing with its tall hair-lined neck reared back, the head raised and mouth open as if bellowing, exposing its teeth and prominent tongue, the straw-glazed body surmounted by a brilliant green, chestnut and straw-glazed saddle flanked by elaborate bags relief-moulded on each side by a large bulging pack modelled as large grimacing monster mask, the thick glaze running down the muscular legs, the camel covered predominantly in amber glaze.

Provenance: T.T.Tsui (1941-2010), Hong Kong
Christie's New York, 20 March 1997, lot 59

Exhibited: Mandarin Oriental Presidential Suite, Munich, 2006-2008.

The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no.C114g27 dated 18 June 2014, is consistent with the dating of this lot.

Note: The splendid figure of a camel would have been meticulously sculpted and extremely costly to produce at the time. It would have been commissioned for internment in a burial belonging to an elite member of the Tang society and deemed to become alive for the benefit of its owner. Ancestors in China were deemed active participants in the life of their living offspring, which they could positively influence if provided with continuous care. Miniature universes were thus presented in burials and filled with a variety of necessities disguised as painted, carved or moulded images, which were believed to function like their real counterpart if provided with the correct features; see J.Rawson, 'The Power of Images: The Model Universe of The First Emperor and Its Legacy,' Historical Research, 2002, vol.75, no.188, pp.123-54. Forming an analogical relation with daily forms, these figures embodied important social and ideological aspects of their own time.

The Bactrian camel was imported into China from the areas of the Tarim Basin, eastern Turkestan and Mongolia. This species was highly regarded by the Tang emperors who established dedicated offices to oversee the Imperial camel herds; see E.Schloss, Ancient Chinese Ceramic Sculpture, Stamford, 1977, vol.2, p.220. The heavy load of pouches, ewers and animal meat, so vividly slung between the two humps of the exquisite camel by means of an elaborate structure composed of hinged slats of wood and poles, recalls the importance of foreign trade in Tang China. Referred to as the ships of the desert, camels endured hot temperatures and were the essential method of transport for merchants wishing to conduct trade with the oasis cities of Central Asia, such as Samarkand, Bukhara and Isfahan, along the trading routes of the Silk Road; see E.R.Krauer, The Camel's Load In Life & Death, Cambridge, 1998, pp.50-120.

The animated attitude of this remarkable camel is reminiscent of the running camels vividly depicted on the walls of Crown Prince Zhuanghuai's tomb (d.684), excavated in Qianxian near Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, illustrated in Out of China's Earth: Archaeological Discoveries in People's Republic of China, Beijing, 1981, pl.258.

Compare also with a large sancai camel, Tang dynasty, similarly modelled and with a saddle suspending mask-shaped sacks over a pleated cushion, in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, illustrated by W.Watson, The Arts of China to AD 900, Yale, 1995, p.231, fig.373. Another sancai camel, Tang dynasty, modelled in a similar posture as the present one, is included in the collection of the British Museum, illustrated in Silk Roads, London, 2024, pp.48-49.

Compare with a similar sancai-glazed model of a Bactrian camel, Tang dynasty, which was sold at Bonhams London, 8 November 2018, lot 28.

Lot 10. A green-glazed baluster jar, Tang dynasty (618-907); 22.5cm diam. Sold for £32,000. © Bonhams 2001-2024

The beige pottery body smoothly turned rising from a narrow flat base and glazed a rich green over the everted rim and falling unevenly over the exterior, the shoulder incised with two 'bowstrings', the interior with a pale yellow and green speckled glaze.

Provenance: Berwald Oriental Art Ltd., London
A European private collection, acquired from the above on 20 October 2017

The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no.C100u74 dated 28 July 2000, is consistent with the dating of this lot.

Note: Compare with a related green-glazed pottery jar, Tang dynasty, illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, pl.315; which was later sold at Christie's New York, 19 March 2021, lot 879.

Lot 11. A sancai-glazed tripod jar, Tang dynasty (618-907); 19.5cm diam. Sold for £3,200. © Bonhams 2001-2024

Of compressed globular shape, rising from three lion-paw legs to an everted rim, the exterior covered in a lustrous green, straw and amber glaze falling in an irregular line down the lower section of the body.

Provenance: Berwald Oriental Art Ltd., London
A European private collection, acquired from above on 19 June 2015

The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no.C114k10 dated 13 October 2014, is consistent with the dating of this lot.

Note: See a similar sancai-glazed tripod globular jar, Tang dynasty, illustrated by R.Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol.1, London, 1994, nos.237 and 238.

Compare with a very similar sancai-glazed tripod incense burner, Tang dynasty, which was sold at Christie's New York, 17 March 2017, lot 1139. See another sancai-glazed globular tripod jar, Tang dynasty, which was sold at Bonhams London, 11 May 2021, lot 62.

Lot 12. A blue and sancai-glazed jar and cover, Tang dynasty (618-907); 25.5cm diam (2). Sold for £5,376. © Bonhams 2001-2024

Of globular form, supported on a short spreading foot and surmounted by a short waisted neck and rolled lip, boldly decorated around the exterior with wide olive-green bands centred by rows of resist dots bordered in amber and blue and separated by narrow vertical rows of resist-glazed small white dots, the glaze topping above the foot in an undulating line to reveal the pinkish-buff body, the neck and rim amber-glazed, the domed cover similarly glazed and surmounted by a lotus-bud finial.

Provenance: a Tokyo collection, acquired in Japan prior to the 1980s
Sotheby's London, 14 May 2014, lot 102
A European private collection.

Note: Compare with a very similar Tang dynasty sancai-glazed jar illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Porcelain of the Jin and Tang Dynasties, Hong Kong, 1996, pp.222-223, pl.205. Another is illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, pl.31.

Compare with a similar blue and sancai-glazed pottery jar, without a cover, Tang dynasty, which was sold at Bonhams London, 12 May 2016, lot 24.

Lot 71. A near pair of painted pottery horses, Tang dynasty (618-907); 37cm and 37.5cm high. (4). Sold for £4,480. © Bonhams 2001-2024

Provenance: Berwald Oriental Art Ltd., London
A European private collection, acquired from above on 1 July 2014

Note: The founders of the Tang dynasty emerged from the aristocratic families of the Northwest, distinguished by their intermarriage with the horse-oriented nomadic groups. The Tang aristocracy's deep affection for horses is well documented in historical texts and vividly portrayed in the art of the period, as seen in the present lot. This pair of horses demonstrates the sculptors' remarkable observational skills, vividly captured in the finest examples of pottery figures from the Tang dynasty.

Compare with two related Chinese painted pottery horses, Tang dynasty, which were sold at Sotheby's London, 10 November 2022, lot 131.

Lot 23. A Xingyao lobed conical bowl, Liao Dynasty (916-1125); 15.4cm diam. (2). Sold for £5,120. © Bonhams 2001-2024

Elegantly potted and rising from a short foot ring, the straight sides divided by ribs into five lobes, covered overall in a thin transparent glaze showing the ivory white body, Japanese wood box.

Provenance: Uragami Sokyu-do, Tokyo, Japan
A Japanese private collection
J.A.N Fine Art, London (label)
An Asian private collection

Note: Compare with a related Xingyao conical bowl with five lobes, Tang dynasty, illustrated B.Gyllensvard, Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, Uppsala, 1964, p.110, no.328.

See also a related Xingyao flower-form bowl, late Tang/early Song dynasty, which was sold at Christie's New York, 22 March 2013, lot 1171.

Lot 13. A pair of green-glazed flask-shaped ewers, Liao Dynasty (916-1125); Each 17.5cm high. (2). Sold for £7,680. © Bonhams 2001-2024

Each naturalistically moulded with generously rounded sides tapering to a broad ridge at the top beneath an arc-shaped handle rising from the back of the flask to the short upright cylindrical spout with lipped rim, detailed with naturalistic seamed edges, covered overall with a pale grey-green glaze.

Provenance: Weisbrod Chinese Art Ltd., New York
A European private collection, acquired from the above on 17 June 2003

Note: The oviform and leather-like panels of the current lot are clear imitations of the pouch-shaped leather flasks used by nomads and peoples from Inner Asia such as the Khitans, a culture deeply rooted in nomadic and equestrian traditions. According to an archaeological report by Yang Wenshan and Lin Yushan, stoneware flasks of this form were produced in the 'Xing' kilns during the Tang dynasty. For more details, see 'Tangdai Xingyao Yizhi Diaocha Baogao' in Wenwu, Vol.9, Beijing, 1981, pp.6-7.

Compare with a related white-glazed bag-shaped flask, late Tang dynasty/Five dynasties period, which was sold at Bonhams Paris, 12 June 2024, lot 23. See also a white-glazed 'simulated leather' oviform flask, Tang dynasty, which was sold at Bonhams Hong Kong, 9 October 2014, lot 144.

Lot 22. A white-glazed foliate-rim vase, huakou ping, Song Dynasty (960-1279); 17.5cm high. Sold for £1,920. © Bonhams 2001-2024

The globular lobed body rising from a high spreading foot to a tall neck flaring to a rim with five down-turned petal edges, the neck decorated with three incised bands, covered overall in a creamy-white glaze.

Note: Compare with a similar 'Cizhou' cream-glazed foliate rim vase, Northern Song/Jin dynasty, which was sold at Sotheby's New York, 27 September 2021, lot 551.

Lot 15. A black and russet-glazed 'bird' globular jar, xiaokou ping, Jin Dynasty (1115-1234); 21.5cm high. Sold for £3,584. © Bonhams 2001-2024

The compressed body surmounted by a small double-ribbed neck, covered overall with a lustrous brownish-black glaze and freely painted in russet streaks to depict a bird in flight, the unglazed footring revealing a buff-coloured stoneware body.

Provenance: A European private collection

Note: Ovoid jars of this type, featuring distinctive small, double-ringed lips, are known as xiaokou ping (small-mouthed bottles). These jars were likely sealed with a fabric-wrapped wooden dowel and used for storing wine and other liquids. Typically covered in a dark glaze, these bottles often display abstract floral designs or motifs suggestive of birds in flight, as seen on this example, painted in russet or rust-brown slip. The decorations are characteristically executed with bold, calligraphic strokes, lending the jars a dynamic and expressive quality.

A bottle from the collection of Robert M.Ferris IV with similarly-painted birds in flight rendered in russet against a black glaze is illustrated by R.Mowry, Hare's Fur, Tortoiseshell, and Partridge Feathers, Cambridge MA, 1996, p.162, no.53. Another similar black-glazed vase painted with birds in russet is illustrated by R.Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol.1, London, 1994, p.255, no.465.

Lot 16. A Cizhou black-painted 'floral' vase, Jin-Yuan Dynasty (1115-1368); 27.5cm high. Sold for £5,320. © Bonhams 2001-2024

Well potted with a pear-shaped body and waisted neck, applied on the exterior with a cream-white slip and dark iron-brown with two detached floral sprays, the glaze falling short above the short foot revealing the pale buff-coloured ware.

Provenance: Weisbrod Chinese Art Ltd., New York
A European private collection

Note: Compare with a related Cizhou brown-slip decorated 'bird' bottle vase, Yuhuchunping, Yuan dynasty, which was sold at Sotheby's New York, 18 March 2014, lot 212.

Lot 18. A set of three painted pottery equestrian musicians, Yuan-Ming Dynasty (1271-1644). The tallest 36.5cm high. (3). Sold for £5.760. © Bonhams 2001-2024

Comprising three musicians, all facing forwards seated on the horses arranged with bridles and saddles, each horse standing four square on a rectangular base, two musicians playing trumpets while the third holding a pair of cymbals, with traces of red, black and orange pigments.

Provenance: Berwald Oriental Art Ltd., London
A European private collection, acquired from above on 4 July 2014

Bonhams. Fine Chinese Art, London, New Bond Street, 7 November 2024