Provenance: Previously sold at Bonham's, London, 3 December 1997, lot 31.

Exhibited: Hong Kong Museum of Art, Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth: Gems of Antiquities Collections in Hong Kong, 2002-2005.

Note: The legend of the 'Eight Horses of Muwang' refers to the horses that drew the carriage of King Mu of the Zhou dynasty when he made a grand tour of the world. According to the Shi yi ji, 'Chronicles of Forgotten Times', the eight horses were identified as follows: "Juedi, who races without raising dust; Fanyu, who overtakes birds at speed; Benxiao, who covers ten thousand miles overnight; Yueying, who trails the sun incessantly; Yuhui, who wears a radiant coat; Chaoguang, who casts ten shadows from his body; Tengwu, who rides on clouds; and Jianyi, who possesses a pair of wings. When spurred, they take flight like lightning. When checked by the reins, they slow to canter. Together they carry the emperor to all corners of the world."

From ancient times, horses were symbolic of status and military power. During the Tang dynasty, only the emperor and the nobility at court were able to ride on horses. These revered creatures were expensively imported from Central Asia and their numbers were strictly controlled with punishment levied for any losses of an animal. The best horses were reputed to be the 'blood sweating' horses from Ferghana (now part of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan). Horses were popularly portrayed in Chinese paintings from the Tang dynasty onwards but as a decorative motif on works of art, the theme probably did not become fashionable until the late Ming dynasty.