A magnificent sancai-glazed figure of a lion Tang dynasty | 唐 三彩坐獅

Christie's Los Angeles, Myth and Reality: Animals in Chinese Art, 7th May 1999, lot 32 and cover (offered).

Collection of Julius Eberhardt (1936-2012).

Nagel Stuttgart, 2nd November 2013, lot 3057.

拍賣於洛杉磯佳士得，《Myth and Reality: Animals in Chinese Art》，1999年5月7日，編號32及封面

朱利思∙艾伯哈特（1936-2012年）收藏

德國納高 2013年11月2日，編號3057

Regina Krahl, Collection Julius Eberhardt: Early Chinese Art, vol. 2, Hong Kong, 2004, p. 82f.

康蕊君，《Collection Julius Eberhardt: Early Chinese Art》，冊二，香港，2004年，頁82f

This powerfully modelled lion is a magnificent legacy of the high Tang era, profusely splashed in amber, yellow and green, and preserved in exceptionally good condition. 

Lions are typically found in a Buddhist context in the Tang dynasty, although the poised, attentive posture of the current example suggests that it could also have been intended as a guardian animal. 

Another Tang glazed lion of the same size, similarly modelled seated on its haunches on a rockwork plinth, but with open jaw and splashed in green, is in the collection of the British Museum. Originally in the collection of Henry J. Oppenheim, it was included in the International Exhibition of Chinese Art, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1935-36, cat. no. 2442, and recently in Sarah Wong and Stacey Pierson (ed.), Collectors, Curators, Connoisseurs: A Century of the Oriental Ceramic Society, 1921-2021, Hong Kong, 2021, cat. no. 12 and cover.

The modelling of both lions is very similar in size, style and treatment of the features and plinth, pointing to them emanating from the same workshop, probably at the Gongyi Huangye kilns in Henan province.

盛唐坐獅像，威嚴壯實，靈動有力，黃、褐、綠釉，奔流交織，更顯神氣昂然。整體品相極佳，猶是珍稀。唐代佛教造像常見獅像，本品端坐姿態，神情專注抖擻，應為護法神獸。比較大英博物館藏一例坐獅，姿態、尺寸與本品相類，踞坐於岩上，張牙威嚇，通器潑施綠釉，曾為 Henry J. Oppenheim 珍藏，展出於《International Exhibition of Chinese Art》，皇家藝術學院，倫敦，1935-36年，編號2442，並錄於，Sarah Wong 與 Stacey Pierson 編，《Collectors, Curators, Connoisseurs: A Century of the Oriental Ceramic Society》，香港，2021年，編號12及封面。

本品與上例之尺寸、風格、造像細節、岩座均極為相似，或出自同門，應為河南鞏義黃冶窰。