A large sancai-glazed figure of a horse, Tang dynasty

Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, acquired circa 2000.

This magnificent horse is exceptionally modelled and glazed, the powerful body well-defined of rounded and muscular form, the fine sancai (three-colour) glazes decorating the saddle and trappings against its well-built chestnut-glazed body. The potter who sculpted and glazed this piece has aptly brought to life the horse's strong physicality and spirited nature, showcasing the superior craftsmanship achieved during the Tang dynasty (618-907). As a symbol of status and wealth, ownership of horses in life as in death reflected the high rank and importance of their owners at the time, when strict sumptuary laws declared the right to own horses as an aristocratic privilege. Horses of the most prestigious breed, known as ‘blood-sweating horses’, which is represented in the present piece, were sent to China as tribute from the Ferghana Valley in Central Asia during the Tang court’s vigorous expansion to the west. This magnificent horse is exemplary of sculptures created for important tombs during the Tang period.

Compare a few closely related sancai horses glazed in similar colours and with a long mane, furry saddle cloth and elaborate trappings as the present piece; one with straight forelock excavated in 1963 at Guanlin Tomb no. 2, Luoyang, illustrated in Luoyang Tang Sancai / The Sancai Wares of the Tang Dynasty in Luoyang, Beijing, 1980, pl. 72; one with a knotted tail and of slightly taller size, excavated in Luoyang, Henan province and now in the National Museum of History, Taipei (accession no. h30), included in the Museum’s exhibition The Special Exhibition of Tang Tri-colour, Taipei, 1995, illustrated on the cover of Liu Liang-yu, A Survey of Chinese Ceramics, vol. 1: Early Wares: Prehistoric to Tenth Century, Taipei, 1991.

Another magnificent sancai horse was sold in these rooms, 3rd November 2021, lot 104.