The figure wears a foreign style knee-length coat and boots. The position of the arms suggests that he may have been a musician, perhaps one of a troop of equestrian musicians such as found in Loyang and now in the Henan Provincial Museum, Tang Sancai, Zhongguo taoei quanji, col. 7. (Shanghai and Tokyo, 1983), pls. 88 and 89. This figure is most similar to a drummer from the above group. Similar sets of musicians have been found in Shanxi province, for example, the one in the tomb of Li Zhen in Liquanxian, now in the Chinese Historical Museum, Beijing. Ibid, pls. 4 and 93.

Post Lot Text

A RARE PAINTED AND SANCAI-GLAZED POTTERY EQUESTRIAN
TANG DYNASTY (608-907), CIRCA 7TH-8TH CENTURY

The rider with right hand raised in a fist, the left hand concealed within the long sleeve of his green-splashed amber coat split at the hem above black-painted boots, his pale flesh-colored face detailed in black and red and framed by the sweep of his hood, seated on a horse with head turned to the left, covered in a slightly green-hued straw glaze streaked in amber on the muzzle, hogged mane and tail, and splashed in turquoise green on the rump, the hoofs and base unglazed, earth adhering, arm repaired.