Painted pottery horse-riding figurines, Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD). Overall height 36 cm. Excavated from the Gongling tomb, Yanshui, Henan, 1998. Yanshi Mall Museum Collection.

The terracotta figures are painted throughout, with ink-painted bearded brows and vermilion dotted lips. The head is covered with a red shawl, and the body is covered with a red, wide-sleeved robe, the hood and robe decorated with a white curly grass pattern on a red ground. The lower body is covered in trousers, with black pointed boots, and the left hand appears to be holding the reins, while the right hand is holding an object that was lost when it was unearthed, presumably a gong and drum. The date red horse with ink-painted eyes and saddle blanket, ears erect, nostrils flaring, mouth slightly open, standing still on a rectangular pallet.