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Sotheby's Auctions » Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of
Art » lot 56
Sale N07771
VARIOUS OWNERS
AN OUTSTANDING PAINTED POTTERY PAIR OF CAMELS WITH RIDERS AND PET
MONKEYS TANG DYNASTY
New York 140,000—160,000 USD Session 1
20 Mar 02 10:15 AM
Lot Sold. Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium: 225,750 USD
MEASUREMENTS
height 39in. (99.1cm.)
DESCRIPTION
naturalistically modeled to show a foreign groom astride a camel, a pet
monkey nestled in the crook of his arm, his son sitting back to back
with him on top of a sheepskin rug placed over a load of bedding and on
top of a large stuffed fringed bag, a metal flask and two game birds
tied to the side, all slung between the two humps and over the
saddlecloth, braced with two long poles in between, the thick-set groom
wearing a long jacket with wide lapels and thick boots, his smiling
face with small eyes, fat cheeks and double-chin, the thick long hair
parted in the middle and arranged in two braids coiled into a loop on
the shoulders, his young son with similarly braided hair but shown bare
chested and wearing loose pantaloons tied with a thick sash at the
waist, the camel shown striding forward modeled with knobbly fur on the
head and shown with mouth wide open revealing sharp teeth and pointed
tongue, the figures and packs modeled in three detachable tiered
sections; the companion camel in a less agitated attitude with very
finely carved bulging eyes and manes set in a haughty expression, also
shown striding forward with a monkey perched on top of a bulging pack
straddling the humps, braced by hinged wood slats and secured by thick
straps and ropes, the sides hung with provisions and utensils including
game birds, a rabbit and a small pig, the monkey and pack as a unit
detachable from the camel (5)
This elaborate pottery sculpture was clearly individually modelled and
appears to be unique. It shows a degree of observation on the
sculptor's part and of detailed representation rarely otherwise
encountered on figures of this period. With the bold, confident gesture
of the rider, the naturalistic, forward pushing posture of the camel,
and the owl's 'at the ready' position signified by its puffed up
feathers, the artist captured a dramatic moment of the group in motion.
The
figure is thus very different from the placid representations of camels
usually found among Tang tomb furniture, even among stylistically
similar figures like the one from Changzhi mentioned below. The rider
with his fur coat worn skin-side out, and his peaked hat, probably
represents a Sogdian merchant. A similar hat is worn by a small Tang
bronze figure of a Sogdian dancer, included in the exhibition Monks and
Merchants: Silk Road Treasures from Northwest China, Asia Society
Museum, New York, 2001-2, and at present on view in the Norton Museum
of Art, Palm Beach, Florida, which is discussed and illustrated in the
catalogue, no.82. Compare also a standing pottery figure of a similarly
attired foreigner, excavated from a tomb of AD 724, illustrated in
Treasures of a Nation, Beijing, 1999, pp.216f.; and a camel drover with
a pointed hat, depicted together with his animal on a brick from one of
the Dunhuang caves in Gansu province, included in The Exhibition of
Ancient Art Treasures of the People's Republic of China, Tokyo National
Museum, 1979, cat.no.75. The appearance of an owl in this context is
highly unusual, although owls can be trained for hunting like hawks and
eagles. Falconry was much practised in Tang China, both by Central
Asians and by the Chinese themselves, and falconers holding various
other raptors are known from Tang pottery figurines; see, for example,
a group of equestrian hunters from an early 8th-century tomb near
Xi'an, depicted with various animals and a falcon, included in the
exhibition The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology, Washington, D.C.,
1999-2000, cat.no.170. In its animated attitude the camel is
reminiscent of the running camels from the hunting scenes painted on
the walls of Crown Prince Zhuang Huai's tomb in Qianxian near Xi'an,
Shaanxi province, datable to AD 706, illustrated, for example, in Out
of China's Earth, Beijing, 1981, pl.258. In its naturalistic style of
representation this group can perhaps best be compared with the figure
of a seated camel carrying a woman breast-feeding an infant, included
in the exhibition Tang Ceramic Sculpture, Eskenazi, New York, 2001,
cat.no.8, which is similarly capturing a moment of action, as the boy
grabs the breast, the woman raising one arm as if to stabilize herself
or to hold back the reigns of the camel, whose head is raised as if
braying. Compare also a related painted pottery group of camel and
foreign rider, depicted in a completely different, sedate mood, with
less detail and slightly smaller in size, excavated at Changzhi,
Shaanxi province, now in the Museum of Chinese History, Beijing, and
included in the exhibition China in Venice, Venice, 1986, cat.no.55.
That group shows the camel standing four square, the rider with similar
bushy eyebrows, mustache and beard, wearing a similar pointed hat and
fur coat, but fur-side out, seated straight upright with one arm raised
but empty-handed, on a similar fringed saddlebag, but lacking the fur
blanket and other provisions on the saddle. The dating of this lot is
consistent with the results of a thermoluminescence test, Oxford
Authentication Ltd., sample no. C102a6.
Seen on: www.Sothebys.com
Thanks and best wishes,
J. Barry O'Connell Jr.
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