Lot 104. A large sancai-glazed pottery figure of a horse, Tang Dynasty (618-907). Estimate 100,000 — 150,000 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's

well-moulded, standing foursquare with head turned slightly to the left, the head well-articulated with ears pricked, eyes bulging and nostrils flared, the arching neck with cream-glazed mane, a bright green-glazed saddlecloth draped over the high ridged saddle and gathered in pleats to either side, all over a cream and amber-glazed saddle blanket, the body covered with a rich mottled amber glaze with green-glazed hooves, wood stand, Japanese wood box. Quantité: 3 - 57.5 cm, 22 1/2  in.

Notes: The splendid modelling of this horse, which gives the impression of tamed strength and power, is emphasised by the simplicity of the adornment. It is a naturalistic rendering of the fabled ‘celestial’ or ‘blood-sweating’ Ferghana horse captures , introduced into China from Central Asia during the Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), and immortalised in Chinese literature and the visual arts. They were celebrated for their speed, power and stamina. The renowned court artist Han Gan (AD 720-60) changed the nature of horse representation when he depicted one of Emperor Xuanzong’s (r. AD 847-59) favourite horses, Night-Shining White (now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art), in a realistic rather than supernatural manner.

Han Gan (Chinese, active ca. 742–756), Night-Shining White, ca. 750, Tang dynasty (618–907). Handscroll; ink on paper. Image: 12 1/8 x 13 3/8 in. (30.8 x 34 cm). Overall with mounting: 14 in. x 37 ft. 5 1/8 in. (35.4 cm x 11.4 m). Purchase, The Dillon Fund Gift, 1977, 1977.78. © 2000–2016 The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Many large Tang horses are depicted with elaborate trappings, indicating the use of the horse in ceremonial parades, while the saddled or plain harness appears to have been customary for more functional outings, and is of a type rarely seen on large sancai horses. Compare a similarly well-modelled horse coated with a pale yellow glaze sold in our New York rooms, 26th March 1971, lot 134; and a dark ochre-glazed horse sold at Christie’s London, 11th December 1978. A slightly smaller example, included in the exhibition Seeking Immortality, Early Chinese Ceramics from the Schloss Collection, Bruce Museum, London, 1998, cat. no. 165, was sold at Christie’s New York, 21st September 2000, lot 270, from the Schloss collection.

Horses have long been a symbol of status and wealth and this sculpture reflects the high rank and importance of its owner, particularly as the ownership of horses was an aristocratic privilege. The use of Tang sancai ware was discussed at a recent symposium at National Taiwan University, Taipei, February 2015, where it was suggested that it was used both in daily life as utilitarian vessels or religious objects and as funerary goods, but primarily by the upper and wealthy classes. See also Hsie Mingliang, The World of Ancient Chinese Lead-Glazed Wares: from the Warring States to Tang, Taipei, 2014, pp. 85-118.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, Londron, 09 nov. 2016, 11:30 AM