Tang Dynasty Chinese Art

Chinese Art: Tang Dynasty Camels with Riders and Pet Monkeys 
Chinese Art: Tang Dynasty Camels with Riders and Pet Monkeys

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.


Chinese Art: Black Glazed Pottery Figure of a Fereghan Horse Tang Dynasty
 Chinese Art: Black Glazed Pottery Figure of a Fereghan Horse Tang Dynasty
JBOC Comments: These were common in the late 8th century in China. They were used as figurals in “Heavenly Horse”. tombs. The horse is not a typical horse of 8th century China but is a Central Asian “Heavenly Horse.

MEASUREMENTS
measurements note
22 1/4 in., 56.5 cm

DESCRIPTION
the elegant horse exquisitely sculpted and richly caprisoned, standing foursquare on a rectangular base, with head slightly turned and held high with ears pricked in an alert attitude, the forelock parted and also swept up in a leaf-shaped crest, wearing a bridle hung with palmettes, the hogged mane crenelated with three formal notches with a tuft trailing down one side above the shoulders, crisply grooved and striated in cream and brown, the saddle mostly concealed beneath a large green saddle blanket naturalistically incised with an overall herringbone pattern interspersed with knots to simulate a woven cloth, furled back at one end to show the lozenge-motif lining, all secured by elaborate trappings, the leather straps on the shoulders set with white tassels alternating with green bells, the tail straps with palmettes in green and white, the center of the rump set with a single floret medallion and palmettes in a quatrefoil formation, all in striking contrast to the lustrous brownish-black of the body.


Chinese Art: Tang Dynasty Central Asian Turk Statues 
Chinese Art: Tang Dynasty Central Asian Turk Statues

Country of Origin: Tan’g China

Date of Origin Tang Dynasty late 8th century

Use: Funeral figures.
large FIGURE

These were common in the late 8th century in China. They were used as figurals in tombs. The horse is not a typical horse of 8th century China but is a “Heavenly Horse”. The rider I judge to be a Cental Asian Turk on the basis of the hats cobined with the horses.

measurements note
33.7cm., 13 1/4 in.
DESCRIPTION
each horse modelled with head held high and jaws bared, supported on a rectangular plinth, bearing a Central Asian rider, the saddle and fittings outlined in black, original red pigments


Horse Covers, Pile, Flatweave and Tang Dynasty Pottery
Horse Covers, Pile, Flatweave and Tang Dynasty Pottery
Black Glazed Pottery Figure of a Fereghan Horse Tang Dynasty
Karabagh Horse Cover
Karabagh Horse Cover
I liked this example by John Wertime so much that I ended up making two pages of it one for each of my sites. As one would expect coming from Karabagh this horse cover has similarities to Shahsavan work

The Wertime 19th C. Karabagh Horse Cover

The Wertime Karabagh Horse Cover

Shahsavan embroidered saddle cover circa 1900 

Tang Dynasty Pottery ‘Leg-Biting’ Horse With Cover
Tang Dynasty Pottery 'Leg-Biting' Horse With Cover

Senneh Horse Cover
Senneh Horse Cover
This is an excellent example of a Sen’ie Kurd Herati pattern horse cover.

Yomut Horse Cover
Yomut Horse Cover
The Yomut are a Turkmen tribe that spent the Safavid period as a vassal of the Persians.

Yomud Horse Cover circa 1900 From Hazara Gallery

Yomut Turkmen tainaksha (horse cover) about 1910-20

The W&W Yomut Turkmen tainaksha (horse cover)

Afshar Horse Cover
Afshar Horse Cover
After the unsuccessful Afshar revolt against the Safavid Shah in the late 16th century Shah Abbas moved many of the Afshan to Kerman.

Afshar Horse Cover From Kerman Province ca. 1900
The Broadbent Collection Resht Embroidered wool horse blanket

The Broadbent Collection Resht Embroidered wool horse blanketResht Silk and Wool Embroidered Horse Cover Early 19th C
Faraghan Horse Cover circa 1870
Faraghan Horse Cover circa 1870
A silver embroidered velvet saddle cloth circa 1700
A silver embroidered velvet saddle cloth circa 1700