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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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