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STRAW-GLAZED POTTERY CAMEL
This fine example of Tang dynasty pottery would have been made for the tombs of the Tang elite. Such figures, which would have been very expensive to purchase, provided an obvious indication of the wealth of a family who could afford to inter such costly goods with their deceased relative. Not surprisingly, camels have been found among the burial items in a number of Tang Imperial tombs, as well as some of those belonging to other members of the Tang nobility
AN AMBER AND STRAW-GLAZED POTTERY FIGURE OF A BACTRIAN CAMEL, TANG DYNASTY
Scientific Analysis Report: A thermoluminescence analysis report issued by Oxford Authentication on 31 May 2022, based on sample number C122e71, sets the firing date of the one sample taken between 900 and 1500 years ago, consistent with the dating above. A copy of the report accompanies this lot.
China, Tang Dynasty 618-907.
Standing foursquare on a mostly unglazed square base, with its head raised upwards as if braying, the body covered in a cream color, the saddle cloth with splashes amber, as well as the humps, the forelock, and the neck.
Provenance:
- The Hurdle Collection. Christie’s Amsterdam, 2 May 2007, lot 240.
- Robert McPherson, London, acquired from the above.
- The collection of Geoffrey Middle, United Kingdom, acquired from the above in 2008.
Robert McPherson is an English dealer and highly regarded expert in Chinese ceramics, a committee member of the Oriental Ceramic Society, and on the board of ‘Asian Art in London’. Geoffrey Middle had his first encounter with the East at the young age of eight, from the curious stories told by his father, a professor who had travelled to South Korea to help develop a university engineering program. From that moment, a life-long interest in Asia, and a passion for collecting antiques and works of arts were born. Geoffrey first travelled to China in 1991 as an oilfield engineer and spent the next twenty years living and working in the Far East. From this time on, he built an impressive personal collection featuring early Chinese ceramics dating from the Five Dynasties to the Yuan dynasty, in addition to a wide-ranging selection of Asian Art, such as early Han period lacquers and Ming and Qing lacquer, cloisonné, and porcelains.
Condition: Condition commensurate with age. Some repairs to the neck and legs with touchups as generally expected from Tang dynasty excavations. Small losses, cracks, encrustations, and a small hole from sample-taking.
Weight: 2,308 g
Dimensions: Height 38.5 cm
The two-humped Bactrian camel was known in China as early as the Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD), having been brought from Central Asia and Eastern Turkestan as tribute. The camel was used by the court and the merchants to transport Chinese goods across the difficult terrain of the Silk Route to the eager markets of Central Asia, Samarkand, Persia and Syria. They carried, on their return journeys, many of the exotic luxuries from the west that were desired by the sophisticated Tang court.
Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related amber and straw glazed pottery camel included in the Exhibition Världen på Kulturen, Kulturen 2014, Lund, catalogue, p. 7.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s London, 15 May 2018, lot 34
Price: GBP 11,875 or approx. EUR 20,000, –
Description: A sancai-glazed pottery camel, Tang dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and subject with similar pose and saddle. Note the larger size (57 cm) and green splashes.
