Lot 9803. A unique and large inscribed black limestone sculpture of a hound, Tang-Song dynasty, 8th - 12th century; 68 cm. Lot Sold 3,840,000 HKD (Estimate 3,000,000 - 6,000,000 HKD) © Sotheby's 2026

Provenance: Collection of Josette Day-Solvay (1914-1978), France.
Tajan Paris, 17th December 2002, lot D.
Eskenazi Limited, London, 2007.
 

Note: From the doorways of Pompeii to the pyramids of Mesoamerica, few images are as pervasive and beloved as the watchful hound. Hewn from a fine grey limestone, smoothed and polished through centuries of treasured touching, the present figure represents an exemplary contribution to this genre — a likely unique masterpiece from the height of Chinese statuary arts.

Lying serenely, as if at its master’s feet, but peering out ready to pounce, the present figure displays a masterful command of its material, almost unprecedented in its naturalism and attention to detail. Although zoomorphic sculpture was an established art form by the Tang and Song dynasties – from the stone carvings of the ‘Spirit Road’ to companions and zodiacal figures in elite tombs – the present figure appears in a league of its own. From the curl of its tail to the ridge of its spine, the soft bend of its ribcage and its warm yet careful smile, the dog represents a quality of carving apparently reserved only for the most elite and almost never seen outside of a devotional context.

While now worn away by the sands of time, the dedicatory inscription on the side of the sculpture may provide clues as to the history and dating of the figure. Reading “The twenty-second day of the second month of the fifth year of the [...] he reign […] Wuming Yangde,” the inscription implies that the figure was presented or dedicated in an official capacity. Depending on the parsing of the first character in the reign name, the dating of the figure is similarly established: either the fifth year of the Yanhe reign of Tang Emperor Ruizong (which in fact lasted just one year, 712 CE) or, more likely, that of the Zhenghe reign of Northern Song Emperor Huizong (1111–1117), whose fifth year would have been 1115 CE. Figurines in a funerary context are seldom inscribed, and the presence of such inscription – along with the figure’s soft touch-worn patina – provides compelling evidence of its treasured status even in the time of production or its sustained preservation above-ground. For another rare example of inscribed animal sculpture offered in the market, compare a smaller stone hare – far cruder than the present but similarly poised on a rectangular plinth – sold in our London rooms, 11th December 1984, lot 56 and dated by inscription to the first year of the Taihe reign (827 CE).

Today only one other stone hound of comparable form appears to survive, more crudely rendered than the present but of similar size and posture, preserved in the Capital Museum, Beijing and included in the Museum’s exhibition celebrating the year of the dog, Rui quan wang chun feng. Wuxu gounian shengxiao wenhua zhan, Capital Museum, Beijing, 2018. Aside from these two examples, almost all other large canine images of this early period appear to have been produced in earthenware clay in cruder, more stylised forms for a funerary context. Compare a pottery dog attributed to the Sui dynasty, now preserved in the Henan Museum, Zhengzhou, of similar stance to the present but with less defined features and a total lack of personal expression in Zhongguo diaosu shi tulu [Illustrated history of Chinese sculpture] vol. 2, Shanghai, 1990, pl. 42; two Northern Wei pottery groups of bitches with their young in the Palace Museum, Beijing, in Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum. Sculpture, pt. 1, Beijing, 2011, pls 208 and 209; and a Tang pottery example, yet again far more rudimentary than the current stone figure, pl. 204.

For similarly fine examples of dog figures of the period but much smaller and less monumental, one must turn to miniature jade carvings, produced as talismans, playthings and pendants from the Tang to Early Ming dynasty. Compare one such pendant depicting a dog with lowered head, attributed to the Song dynasty in Jade Wares Collected by Tianjin Museum, Beijing, 2012, pl. 140; another facing to the rear in Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, pl. 26:10, where the author attributes hound figurines to noblemen wishing for success in hunting; and another with head raised, attributed to the Tang dynasty in Chinese Jade Throughout the Ages, Arts Council of Great Britain and Oriental Ceramic Society, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1975, cat. no. 204.

Josette Day, who retired from acting in 1950 at age 36 after a prolific career beginning as a child star, embraced her role as a passionate collector under her married name, Josette Day-Solvay. Her collection focused on antiquities, such as the present hound and the notable 'Bound Captive' stone torso from the classical/Egyptian periods. Antiquities formed a key part of her post-Hollywood lifestyle in Paris, where she lived surrounded by these treasured artefacts until her death in 1978.

Sotheby's. Zoomorphia: Animal Forms in Ancient China | Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 5 May 2026