Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 13 - 14 September
Two rare glazed and painted pottery figures of equestrians, Tang dynasty (AD 618-907)
Lot 1273. Two rare glazed and painted pottery figures of equestrians, Tang dynasty (AD 618-907); 16 in. (40.6 cm.) high, the tallest. Estimate USD 20,000 - USD 30,000. Price realised USD 40,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2018
Each rider is shown seated astride a muscular horse standing foursquare with head turned alertly to the sides and ears pricked, his hands positioned to hold reins. Each wears a reddish tunic tied at the waist and tall black-painted boots, and his face is finely detailed in black below the tall cap. One horse is glazed a deep chestnut-brown, the other an unusual pale green.
Provenance: Sing's Antique Gallery, Hong Kong, 13 June 1997.
Note: It is very rare to find Tang-dynasty equestrian figures with the horses decorated in brown and pale green glazes; chestnut and cream-tone glazes are more commonly found. While large horses of the period are known to have been covered in the dark brown-chestnut glaze, it is unusual to find on an equestrian figure of this smaller size. For a few other rare examples of related equestrian figures with brown and pale green-glazed horses see: Christie’s New York, 15-16 March 2015, lot 3228, for a rare dark-chestnut piebald example; He Li, Chinese Ceramics, A New Comprehensive Survey, New York, 1996, pp. 100-101, no. 185, for a brown-glazed example; J.P. Desroches, Compagnons d’éternité, Paris, 1996, p. 211, for a pale-green-glazed version not as richly applied as the present example.