A PAINTED POTTERY HORSE AND 'FOREIGNER' RIDER Tang dynastyPROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE NEW YORK COLLECTIONA PAINTED POTTERY HORSE AND 'FOREIGNER' RIDERTang dynastyLively modeled with his right fist raised in the air, his upper body turns to the left and grabbing the tiger cub by its neck, the tiger cub's mouth open showing teeth and tongue and barely staying on top of the horse's rump, the horse standing four-square on a rectangular platform, the bearded hunter with bold facial features dressed in fitted green garment and brown boots, the cloth cap painted red and face detailed in black and red, sitting firmly on the tiger fur lined saddle, the horse painted in black with facial details picked out in black and red, overall covered with earth encrustations. 17 1/8in (44cm) high; 14 1/4in (36cm) length唐 彩繪番人獵虎陶馬Compare the very similar painted pottery mounted "foreigner" hunter and cheetah, excavated from the tomb of Princess Yongtai (dated 706) in Yangtai, Shaanxi province, illustrated by Watt, China: Dawn of a Golden Age, 200-750 AD, New York, 2004, p. 307, no. 198, described by the author "... the hunter twists his body around in anger, his right hand raised as if to strike the snarling feline, which has, in turn, mounted the (oddly placid) horse. The lack of seat attached to the saddle also throws into question whether the animal belongs to this hunter at all. According to Muhammad Ibn Mangli, act. 1362-76, an Arab trainer, a cheetah that has not caught its prey can sometimes turn on its master. Such so-called spoiled cheetahs would then be given to new trainers."Compare also the group of five painted pottery hunting figures, unearthed from the tomb of Yu Yin and Princess Jinxiang in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, illustrated by Yang, The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People's Republic of China, Washington, 1999, pp. 492-493, no. 170, noted by the author that "Hunting and the hunting style of foreign peoples (including their use of exotic animals) were of particular interest to the leisured Tang aristocracy."