Lot 103. A set of five painted pottery figures of boys, Tang Dynasty (618-907); 19cm(7 1/2in); 19cm (7 1/2in); 14.3cm (5 5/8in); 14cm (5 1/2in); 15cm (5 9/10in) high (5). Estimate £ 20,000 - 30,000 (€ 23,000 - 34,000). Unsold. © Bonhams

Well modelled as three seated boys, two holding a yellow ball, one holding a lotus branch, and two standing boys holding a plate, all wearing a teal cloth with black collar and red cuffs, the black belt fastened with a piece of triangular emerald green coloured fabric decorated with red and black designs. 

Provenance: a European private collection.

Note: Pottery figures of boys, dating to the Tang dynasty, are rare. This remarkable group, depicting colourfully attired boys engaging in various leisurely pursuits, embodies symbolic wishes for fertility, male progeny and immortality. The seated boy wearing a lotus leaf on his head and holding a lotus bud is strongly symbolic of the Double Seventh Festival which celebrated the love encounter between the Weaver Maid and the Cowherd. During this time, children ran through the streets carrying lotus flowers and images depicting children and lotus were also purchased by women desiring sons. Children emerging from lotus calyxes also symbolised the heavenly rebirth in a Buddhist realm, according to scriptures, but also the mindless state of spontaneous actions advocated by Daoists as a necessary means to attain immortality. For references, see A.E.Barrott Wicks, Children in Chinese Art, Honolulu, 2002, pp.6-15. See also E.Johnston, 'Auspicious Images of Children in China', in Orientations, no.27, pp.47-52.

The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no.C118c68, performed on one of the five figures and dated 26 March 2018, is consistent with the dating of this lot.