A Painted Pottery Figure of a 'leg-biting' Horse Tang Dynasty

the well-modelled beast standing foursquare with its long neck arched down to allow the head to graze its ankle with its ears pressed back, the boldly muscled body with powerful haunches and slender legs painted overall in white with ample traces of 'root-tracks', leaving the large eyes fringed by finely pencilled lashes and traces of pinkish-red pigment to the ears, legs and hooves

It is very unusual to find horses modelled in this pose. Compare a long-maned horse of similar model and size illustrated in Sekai tôji zenshû, vol. 8, Tokyo, 1955, pl. 138; and another larger horse with saddle sold, Christie’s New York, 27th November 1991, lot 284.

See also a smaller glazed and maned horse illustrated in Li Zhiyan, Chinese Pottery and Porcelain, Beijing, 1984, pl. 28 right; and another unglazed horse in the British Museum included in the International Exhibition of Chinese Art, London, 1935-36, cat.no. 2466.

The dating of this lot is consistent with the results of a thermoluminescence test, Oxford Authentication Ltd., no. C103j15.