AN ELABORATELY CAPARISONED GRAY POTTERY HORSE


Northern Wei dynastyStanding at momentary rest with its four legs and tail attached to a low plinth, the mane carefully cut with three tufts of hair, tiny bosses applied to the cloth draped across the head, the straps across the chest and haunches, and incised lines to the stirrups and the saddle or add texture to the mud flaps and the long tail. 10 1/8in (25.7cm) long9 1/2in (24.2cm) high
|Provenance Christie's, New York, 16 October 2001, lot 343Christie's, New York, 23 March 1995The Scheinman CollectionExhibitedBorn of Earth and Fire, Chinese Ceramics from the Scheinman Collection, Baltimore, The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1992, no. 30The elaborate trappings and the three tufts of hair that rise along its crenelated mane indicate that a horse such as this belonged to someone of exalted rank within the Wei dynasty. For a history of the crenelated mane, its appearance on stone reliefs of the six steeds carved for the tomb of Tang emperor Taizong (reigned 626-649) and the sancai horses excavated from important eight century tombs, see Jan Fontein and Tung Wu, Unearthing China's Past (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1971), pp. 172-173, no. 88.