Lot 43. Seven pottery figures of female musicians, Tang Dynasty (618-906 AD). Approximately 16.5cm (6 1/2in) high. (7). Sold for €4,845 (Estimate 2,000 € - 3,000 €). Courtesy Bonhams.

Each in seated poise kneeling, with the body slightly swayed to one side atop a rectangular base, the well-defined faces below double knot hair chignons, with traces of black and red pigments.

Provenance: Robert Rousset, Paris (1901-1981), acquired prior to 1935.
Jean-Pierre Rousset, Paris (1936-2021).

Note: See related figures of dancers and musicians, Tang dynasty, excavated in 1972 from the tomb of Zheng Rentai, Liquan County, Shaanxi Province, in the collection of the Shaanxi History Museum, illustrated by C.Michaelson, Gilded Dragons: Buried Treasures from China's Golden Ages, London, 1999, no.39. See also two related pottery female figures of female musicians, Tang dynasty, from the Robert Rousset collection, in the Musée Guimet, Paris, illustrated by J-P.Desroches, Compagnons d'Eternite', Paris, 1981, pp.154-155.

See six pottery figures of ladies, including musicians and dances, Sui/early Tang dynasty, which were sold at Bonhams London, 11 May 2021, lot 78.

Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr Paris. The Robert and Jean-Pierre Rousset Collection of Asian Art: A Century of Collecting - Part 1. Paris, 25 october 2022.