A magnificent and extremely rare gilt-decorated and sancai-glazed pottery figure of a bowing horse, Tang dynasty, first half of 8th century

Eskenazi Ltd, London, 12th July 1993.

Early Chinese Art from Tombs and Temples, Eskenazi, London, 1993, cat. no. 38.

Giuseppe Eskenazi in collaboration with Hajni Elias, A Dealer’s Hand. The Chinese Art World Through the Eyes of Giuseppe Eskenazi, London, 2012, pl. 208.

Skillfully molded with stocky legs, broad torsos, graceful necks, and often intricate trappings, Tang horses are among the most ubiquitous and celebrated forms of Chinese sculpture ever produced. These powerful beasts, assembled from complex molded sections, originally formed part of larger collections of ‘spirit objects’ (mingqi) in elite funerary contexts and reached their zenith around the eighth century, at the height of the Tang dynasty (618–907). Through their mingqi, Tang elite sought to recreate real-world possessions in clay and other enduring materials, and bring their wealth and status with them into the next world. However, while other sculptural forms, including Buddhist guardians, attendants and camels, are also frequently attested in Tang burial contexts, no other subject has had the lasting and profound impact of the Tang horse. 

Horses, particularly those bred from the fabled stock of the Ferghana Valley, were among the most important symbols of power and prestige in early China. Imported along the Silk Road from Central Asia in exchange for precious textiles and gold, by the Tang dynasty, horses had gained a reputation not just as an important means of transportation and warfare, but as true symbols of wealth and luxury. By 667 CE, the ownership of horses had been restricted by law to the aristocracy alone, who grazed their stock in extensive stables and parks on the outskirts of the Tang capital in Chang’an (modern-day Xi’an). Known as ‘celestial’ or ‘blood-sweating’ horses, the horses of Ferghana were said to have been first discovered by Chinese officials in the Han dynasty who launched extensive campaigns to recover them. Portrayed like the present example with rigid fore-legs and stocky barrel-shaped chests, these horses represented the very peak of strength, power and speed and, as such, made fitting accompaniments to a royal tomb. 

While many Tang horses display a level of sophistication in their sculpting, it is exceedingly rare to find such a degree of naturalism on a figure of this type. Unlike more commonly attested figures glazed predominantly in white, amber, or almost supernaturally in the greens and blues of the sancai (‘three color’) palette, the present horse features a striking yet simple piebald coat. With a second iron-rich layer of glaze draped over the more standard amber, still visible around the ankles and neck, the horse is robed in a remarkably opaque, almost iridescent, black coat rarely so successfully achieved at scale. Combined with the selective application of amber splashes around the neck, the figure appears as if alive, its mottled fur flowing in the breeze. 

This bold naturalism and simplicity in glazing is, in turn, accentuated by more florid additions in pigment and gold, still preserved in traces after thirteen centuries. With floral designs in pink, black and red to the saddle cloth and tassels, bright green pigments around the halter and saddle, and – most strikingly – gold leaf across the straps and trappings, this decorative scheme represents one of the most visually imposing and sumptuous examples ever to come to market, exuding both splendor and naturalism in its dramatic glazing and vibrant pigmentation. 

Indeed, while many Tang horses tend to lack a distinct personality, the present model appears to be unique in design, replete with characterful tenderness, and very possibly sculpted and colored after a living model— a level of customization likely limited only to the very highest echelons of society. Emperor Xuanzong (r. 712–756), for example, was notorious for his love of horses and commissioned court artist Han Gan (c. 706–783) to paint portraits of his herd. As scholar Zhang Yanyuan notes in his Lidai minghua ji (‘Record of famous painters of all periods’; 847), Emperor Xuanzong ‘loved large horses and ordered Han [Gan] to paint the most noble of his more than 400,000 steeds,’ six of which are described by their respective colors: red, purple, scarlet, yellow, clove, and ‘peach-flower’. Compare the most famous of these paintings, entitled ‘Night-shining White’ (Zhaoyebai), attributed to the artist and preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (accession no. 1977.78), and another, attributed to Han Gan by the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1735–1795), depicting a similar horse of black torso, dappled mane and white snout and hooves, sold from the collection of the Fujita Museum, Osaka, at Christie’s New York, 15th March 2017, lot 509. Also compare six life-size stone stelae produced for the burial grounds of Emperor Taizong (r. 627-649) in Zhaoling, said to depict his six favorite battle chargers, two of which are now preserved in the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Pennsylvania (accession. nos C395 and C396), and the other four in the Beilin Museum, Xi’an. 

Beyond its shimmering decoration, the present horse is also remarkable in its posture. At once a regal bow and tender scratch of the leg, the horse’s stance with arched neck and lowered head is exceedingly rare with only five other glazed examples apparently published. For the origins of this design, compare a related unglazed gray pottery example of this form preserved in the Eisei Bunko Museum, Tokyo, dated to the Northern Wei period in Koyama Fujio, Chūgoku tōji [Chinese ceramics], vol. I, Tokyo, 1970, fig. 17; a pair of gray horses uncovered from the tomb of Court Official Dugu Sijing and his wife (dated 709), included in China. Dawn of a Golden Age, 200–750 AD, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2002, cat. no. 199, including one in a bow; and a set of four red-painted pottery horses with removable saddles, excavated in 1966 from Pit No. 10, Xi’an, Shaanxi province, included in Imperial China. The Art of the Horse in Chinese History, Kentucky Horse Park, Kentucky, 2000, cat. no. 139, apparently representing the same horse in four different poses, including the present bow. 

Of the five other known glazed examples, no other bowing horse appears to share the present piebald coloration or gilt-polychrome trappings. Compare three, each predominantly glazed in white with sancai trappings: the first preserved in the Museum of Replica Handbags s, Boston (accession no. 27.2), included in Unearthing China’s Past, Museum of Replica Handbags s, Boston, 1973, cat. no. 88; the second sold in these rooms, 13th March 1975, lot 208, to the Matsuoka Museum of Art, Tokyo, and included in its Inaugural Exhibition, Selected Masterpieces of the Matsuoka Museum of Art, Tokyo, 1975, p. 5, cat. no. 3 (Fig. 1); and the third illustrated on the cover of Oriental Art, 1997–1998, vol. XLIII, no. 4, and offered at Christie’s New York, 16th September 1998, lot 309. The fourth known example, an amber-glazed bowing horse with green trappings, is preserved alongside an upright horse of similar coloration, in the National Gallery, Prague (accession no. Vp 4128), illustrated on the Museum's website (Fig. 2); and the fifth, decorated with a similar black glaze and dappled neck, is in the Seikado Bunko Art Museum, Chiyoda, included in Chūgoku tōji ten [An exhibition of Chinese ceramics], Seikado Bunko Art Museum, Tokyo, 1992, cat. no. 16 (Fig. 3). Finally, also compare a black- and amber-glazed horse from the Art Institute of Chicago (accession no. 1943.1136) with its restored head and neck arranged in a bow, included in Masterpieces of Chinese Arts from the Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, MOA Museum of Art, Atami and Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, 1989, cat. no. 48 (Fig. 4). 

The dating of this lot is consistent with the results of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no. 666m83.

本拍品經牛津熱釋光檢測編號666m83，結果與其斷代相符。