Lot 2067. A rare large painted grey pottery figure of a kowtowing court official, early Tang dynasty, 7th-8th century; 23 in. (58.5 cm.) long. Estimate USD 80,000 - USD 120,000. Price Realized USD 125,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2014. 

The male courtier is well modeled in an unusual prostrate posture of obeisance with his head slightly raised above his clasped hands, which are pierced to hold a hu tablet. His face is finely modeled with life-like features set in an intense expression. He wears a tall court hat secured by a metal hat pin, its ends visible on either side. His court robes have full sleeves and are tied around the waist with a broad sash hung in back with another sash tied in a bow that extends along his back to the pleated hem fanned out behind his shoes. The figure is painted in red, white, black and green pigments, and there are traces of gilding, wood stand.

Provenance: J.J. Lally & Co., New York, April 1999.

Note: This very rare figure, shown in the most unusual posture of kowtowing, is also unusual in its large size and the attention to detail in the modeling. It is similar to another large painted pottery figure of a courtier shown in an equally prostrate position and with his head held in a similar manner. This figure from Shaanxi province, is illustrated in Wenwu, 1954:10, pl. 55, and is also illustrated by J. Fontein and R. Hempel in the exhibition catalogue, China. Korea. Japan, Propylen Verlag, Berlin, 1968, pl. XIX. The figure wears a similar court hat and full robes, painted red, that fan in curves around the arms. As with the present figure, there is a slit in the top of the clasped hands for the insertion of a hu tablet. These tablets, made of ivory, were carried by court officials while in the imperial presence, and are thought to have been used as early as the Tang dynasty. An ivory tablet of this kind is illustrated in the O.C.S. exhibition catalogue, Chinese Ivories from the Shang to the Qing, British Museum, 24 May - 19 August 1984, pp. 142-43, no. 158. See, also, another similar figure, shown in a less prostrate posture, but wearing a similar court hat and robes, sold at Christie's New York, 22 March 1999, lot 251.

The result of Oxford thermoluminescence test no. C199p47 is consistent with the dating of this lot.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 20 - 21 March 2014