The results of a thermoluminescence test, Oxford Authentication Ltd., No.C101w37 dated 19 September 2001, is consistent with the dating of this lot.

Note: The modelling of the present lot is impressive for its sense of energetic movement. The finely painted, unglazed finish complements such confident, lively modelling, allowing the art of the potter to dominate. The Tang emperor Xuanzong (reigned AD712-756), a great patron of the arts, famously kept a trained troupe of horses for his entertainment at court and this may explain the presence of this type of refined prancing horse amongst contemporary tomb furniture.

For a related sculpture in the Idemitsu Museum, Tokyo, dated to the first half of the 8th century, with similarly curling saddle cloth and raised right foreleg, but also with a seated lady rider, see W.Watson, La Céramique Tang et Liao, Fribourg, 1984, p.194. For a smaller but similarly modelled horse see an example in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, no.67.62.2.  

A related horse with similarly high raised foreleg, Tang dynasty, was sold at Christie's New York, 21 March 2013, lot 1161.

Bonhams. AUCTION 23237: FINE CHINESE ART, 10:30 BST - LONDON, NEW BOND STREET