Lot 286. A straw-glazed pottery model of an ox, Tang Dynasty (618-907). Estimate 5,000 — 7,000 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's. 

standing foursquare with head raised, the harness and trappings lightly moulded in relief, covered overall in a pale straw glaze; 24.1 cm, 9 1/2  in.

Provenance: Sotheby's London, 12th December 1989, lot 194..

Notes: The dating of this lot is consistent with Oxford Thermoluminescence Test no. 566b78.

Similar pottery figures of oxen are illustrated in Qin Tingyu, Zhongguo Gudai Taosu Yishu [Ancient Chinese pottery], Shanghai, 1955, pl. 50; C. Hentze, Chinese Tomb Figures, London, 1928, pl. 95B, in the Musée Cernuschi, Paris; and in M. Prodan, The Art of the T'ang Potter, London, 1960, pl. 61, from the Eumorfopoulos collection, now in the British Museum, London.