Fine Chinese Tang Dynasty Saddled Horse with Oxford TL Test

This fine-quality pottery model of a horse was made during the early part of the Tang Dynasty (AD 618 - 906). It is made from a relatively highly-fired pale-coloured pottery, varying from a pale grey to a pinkish-brown in colour (this colour variation is often seen with earthenware that is more highly-fired than other pieces). It has been "cold-painted" in various coloured pigments. The two pigments that have survived the most are the base creamy-white and red, but there are also traces of other colours, green and blue, and there is also a spot of gold leaf remaining on the horse's head, demonstrating that this was once richly painted and truly an example of importance and high quality. Moulded into the pottery across the horse's back is a saddle and blanket. The horse stands upright, looking straight ahead; note the detail of the bridle on its head. As is also sometimes seen with the more highly-fired examples of Tang pottery horses, the flat base has become warped during firing.

Height 27 cm, length 28 cm. By their very nature, the vast majority of Tang Dynasty pottery horses will have suffered some degree of repair or restoration. Although perhaps not immediately obvious, the tail end of the blanket on one side as been broken and lost. There are also very faint signs, almost invisible in fact, that the legs have been broken and re-stuck, but they are extremely clean breaks and most people really would not notice !

We recently purchased this Tang horse from an old English private collection; it was purchased in Hong Kong in 1996 for HK$22,000 and we have a photocopy of the invoice together with a coloured photo taken in 1995 in which the break to the blanket end can be seen.

As with many of our finer pieces, we have had this horse tested by Oxford Authentications, the ONLY testers of ancient pottery accepted by all major dealers, auction rooms and museums worldwide, with a result of a date of manufacture of "between 900 and 1500 years ago". We show also the Thermoluminescence Analysis Report that will accompany the horse. The two sample holes in the horse can easily be filled in if desired.

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