A PAIR OF PAINTED POTTERY FIGURES OF LADIES TANG DYNASTY

well modeled, each standing in an elegant swaying pose with hands clasped within the full sleeves of the long, heavy robes falling in deep folds to the base, with a shawl over the shoulder and long robe cut square above the chest, the face modeled with fully rounded features framed by the long hair drawn into an elaborate coiffure arranged in a dramatic crescent framing the face and an asymmetrical twisted bun on one figure, and a centered fan-shaped double top knot on the other, with traces of pigment, the robes detailed with florets, wood stands, Japanese wood boxes (8)

Offered at Christie's Los Angeles, 4th December 1998, lot 9.

The first figure, to the left of catalogue image, in good condition with minor touch ups to the edge of the hair arrangement. Loss of pigments and surface adhesions consistent with age. The second figure, to the right of catalogue image, with some later-added pigments and restoration to each side, extending from the shoulder to the base. Possible further restoration to her right cheek and ear, with scattered loss of pigments and surface adhesions.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Funerary figures of full-figured ladies, with elaborately ‘fallen’ chignons and dressed in loose flowing robes, demonstrated the ideals of beauty during the high Tang period. The dress and hairstyles seen on these figures are similar to those of ladies depicted in murals on the walls of tomb no. 187, Astana, Turfan, particularly ‘Lady Under a Tree’ now at the MOA Museum of Art, Atami, Japan and dated to the first half of the 8^th century. Others, now preserved in the Xinjiang Museum, are illustrated in The Ancient Art in Xinjiang, China, Urumqi, 1994, p. 87, pls. 213 and 215. For examples of painted pottery court ladies see a smaller figure included in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, Vol. Three (I), London, 2006, pl. 1215. A similar figure but with a high chignon, excavated in 1955 from tomb 131 at Gaolou Village, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, dated to 748, was included in the exhibition The Quest for Eternity, Los Angeles County Museum, 1987, cat. no. 83.

The dating of this lot is consistent with the result of a thermoluminescence test, Oxford Authentication Ltd., sample no. C298c57.