EXHIBITION CATALOGUE: Asia Week NY 2014

1. A pair of carved bamboo pots A carved bamboo brushpot by Zhang Xihuang, 17th/18th century
Signed Zhu Wenyou Credit: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 4 April 2012, lot 120.
Probably 18th Century
A carved bamboo brushpot by Zhang Xihuang, 17th/18th
Of circular section, each skillfully carved in liuqing technique around the sides in a century. Credit: The Freer Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
continuous scene with a painterly lakeside landscape with mountain peaks, rocky
promontories, bridges, fenced enclaves, a variety of tress including willow and pine
and with various figures either in small boats or under thatched roofs in conversation,
all carved through the paler ochre skin to the darker reddish-brown body beneath,
one pot with two seals, a square seal reading Zhu Wen You Zhi (made by Zhu
Wenyou), and a rectangular seal which reads Mi---Tang (second character illegible),
the other pot with a lengthy inscription followed by a small seal, the inscription reads
Jiang Nan Shui Xiang Ju Yi Xian, Wenyou (living and relaxing in a water village of the
Southern Yangtze River, Wenyou, and followed by the seal Zhu, the pots edged in a
darker hardwood at the foot and rim, age cracks, 3 3/5 inches high

These exceptional pots appear to be from the hand of Zhu Wenyou, a recorded
bamboo artist of the early Qing period (late Kangxi to Yongzheng reigns). Jin Yuanyu
of the late Qing dynasty recorded over fifty professional bamboo carving artists in
his Zhu ren lu. He was also known as Yunzhai.

The liuqing technique, one favoured by one of China’s most outstanding master
carvers Zhang Zonglue (hao Xihuang), requires a method of carving that involved
the clever manipulation of the contrasting colors of the smooth greenish bamboo
skin and the darker more fibrous inner layer of the stalk. In this method of carving
the upper layer of the bamboo is cut away leaving a dark background while the skin
is left in relief to form the positive image. The result is a pronounced contrast
between dark and light tones which is achieved through a drying process in which
the green skin of the material turns in to a rich light brown color while the inner
layer of the worked bamboo matures into a darker lustrous brown tone.

See Sotheby’s Hong Kong, Water Pine and Stone Retreat Collection – Scholarly
Art II, 4 April 2012, Lot 120

Kwan, Simon, Ming and Qing Bamboo, University Museum and Art Gallery,
The University of Hong Kong, 2000

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2. A rare silk and metal thread embroidery of Avalokitesvara (Guanyin)
with attendants, 1670-1800 but most likely early Qing Dynasty
embroidery on silk background, with velvet mounts.

The Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Guanyin) looks down from Sukhavati, Leader, on January 4, 1962, p.15, he visited 91 countries on six continents
the “Pure Land of Bliss”, on his worshippers in the earthly realm below. and preached and lectured in Japan, Nepal, Malaysia, India, amongst
Regally attired after the Indian fashion with a loincloth and loose upper others. He was a native of Pittsburgh, Pa., graduated from the University
garment, the deity wears princely jewels, a diadem with flowing ribbons, of Pittsburgh and later from Princeton Seminary and earned his doctorate
armlets, anklets, bracelets, and a splendid corselet with a dragon in Theology at Union Theological Seminary in New York City.
wandering over his chest. Sitting on a horned lion-like creature with one
leg lowered in the “Posture of Ease”, the Bodhisattva, who is specifically Over the course of several centuries, the Bodhisattva known to Indian
identified through an inscription on the back as Guanyin (Avalokites- scripture as Avalokitesvara, “The Lord Who Looks Down”, underwent a
vara), raises his right hand in the gesture of teaching known as Vitarka remarkable transformation in Chinese Buddhism, becoming Guanyin,
Mudra. As he explains the sutras, Avalokitesvara (Guanyin) is attended the Bodhisattva of Compassion who is worshipped in both the male
by two lesser Bodhisattvas below, who are worshipping him with folded and female form.
hands and incense. All three deities are shown with spacious haloes, but
Avalokitesvara’s superior status is further emphasized by a lobed throne Embroidered images such as this require a particular effort of time and
and a magnificently fringed and jewelled umbrella with trailing streamers skill to prepare. In some places the design has been highlighted by the
and a flaming “Thought Jewel” on its top. On the marble balustrade use of precious metal, employed in the Chinese fashion by wrapping
behind, stand a dancing peacock and the Bodhisattva’s bottle of immortal gold or silver leaf on paper around silk thread. The heavy stitching
elixir, into which the willow branch from his hand has been placed. A throughout makes a deliberate use of the sheen of silk to enhance the
lotus pond reveals that the setting for this scene is a paradise, where plasticity of the image and, on the nose, even employs three dimensional
gentle breezes blow through the air lifting the long locks of the god, the modeling to convey a life-like effect.
ribbons of his diadem, and the golden streamers of the parasol
A pair of textiles in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum, (acces-
56 1/2 inches x 25 inches sion no’s: 62.97.51 and 62.97.52) shows a remarkable conformity with the
present example in technique, size, style, and - with minor disparities -
Provenance: Reverend Dr. Adolph H. Behrenberg, Metuchen, richness of materials. All three pieces have inscriptions on the back in an
New Jersey, (1914-1977) identical hand which shows that at some point they were kept in the
Aalten’s Orange Auction Galleries, East Orange, N.J., same temple or monastery in China, and were to be hung in a particular
Estate sale of Dr. Behrenberg, 13 March 1978, lot 358 order. The inscriptions specify that the museum’s pair of Bodhisattvas
Estate of Sydney L. Shaper should be placed on the “left side” and “right side”, while the inscription
on this Guanyin states that it should be seen in the “center”. There is a
The result of Carbon 14 dating sample (ETH-49362) gives a number very high probability - despite a few quite minor differences in material
of possible, if rather confusing calibration interpretations, ranging - that these particular textiles once formed a triad of Buddhist deities,
between 1648-1684 or 1736-1805 and that all three images were originally intended to be placed in
veneration and worshipped together.
The Reverend Dr. Adolph H. Behrenberg, Th.D., (1914-1977), of
Metuchen, New Jersey, was minister of the First Presbyterian Church in The only other comparitive embroidery of a much earlier date (Song
Metuchen from 1942 until the 1960’s. He spent a great deal of his life Dynasty) is illustrated in Masterpieces of Chinese Silk Tapestry and
traveling and according to an article published in The Westfield (N.J.) Embroidery in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1971, no. 33 (fig. 4) Fig. 1: One of a pair of embroideries of Bodhisattva’s, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

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Fig. 4 - Top: Inscription on Metropolitan
Museum Bodhisattva, reading Pu Sa Zuo Si,
(Bodhisattva, left [side] no. 4)

Fig. 5 - Center: Inscription on Avalokitesvara
(Guanyin) Exhibition No. 2, reading Guan
Yin Zheng (Guanyin, center)

Fig. 6 - Bottom: Inscription on Metropolitan
Museum Bodhisattva, reading Pu Sa You Si,
(Bodhisattva, right [side] no. 4)

Fig. 2: Embroidery of Avalokitesvara, (Guanyin) with attendants [Exhibition No.2] Fig. 3: One of a pair of embroideries of Bodhisattva’s, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

3. A rare wood (sandlewood?) figure of a Peacock in Display
India, Delhi/Lahore, or Karnataka, circa second half nineteenth century

In sections joined with dowels. Later metal repairs Diwan-i -Khas, the Hall of Private Audience. By the nineteenth century, Fig. 1):- Golden Throne of Ranjit Singh, Lahore after 1818 to c.1830 CE. Chased and
this foliate design had become a popular and frequently employed engraved gold over wood and resin core, made by the goldsmith Hafez Muhammed
A Peacock - the resplendent male of the species - stands with wings idiom in North India, where it was widely dispersed in Mughal art. It Multani. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
outstretched and arched tail performing his mating display. In India is immediately apparent as the most prominent design on the golden
from ancient times down to the present, the peacock has been seen throne of Maharajah Ranjit Singh, made at Lahore after the Sikh
as a companion and vehicle for the gods, and as a symbol of Indian ruler’s conquest of Sindh in 1818 (see Fig. 1). In the context of the
royalty and kings. Its mating dance, taking place in the rainy season, Golden Throne, this design is derived from lotus petals (see “Luxury
is symbolic of the time each year when the earth and even life itself Goods from India: The Art of the Indian Cabinet Maker”, V&A
undergo a renewal. Peacocks in every conceivable medium and Publications, 2002, by Amin Jaffer, page 43 ff.).
material, make an appearance dancing, displaying, running, or resting
on Indian architecture, sculpture, furniture, in painting, jewelry, In about the middle of the nineteenth century, a painting by Ghulam
carpets, textiles, vessels and musical instruments (Footnote 1). From Ali Khan (fl. 1817 - 1855 CE), perhaps the pre-eminent painter of the
the earliest periods, this fascinating bird has been a perennial and School of Delhi, shows the Diwan i Khas and its pillars, with their
timeless favorite of the Indian imagination, ever alluring and appealing distinctive foliate capitals and bases, as they appeared in an album
- a beautiful visitor from the realms of symbolism, mythology, poetry, inscribed “November 1852 “(Fig. 2). Paintings such as this were an
and religion. important medium through which the themes and motifs of imperial
art were able to reach a much wider dissemination in the vernacular
A wooden figure of this considerable size might be suitable as a vehicle styles of Mughal India.
or seat for an image to be taken out in festival processions, but from
the back, where the material is broadly blocked in shape and devoid Probably made for a palace or home, rather than specifically for one
of any detail, it is apparent that this peacock was never intended to of the many national and international exhibitions that were a feature
be viewed on all sides. It could hardly have functioned as a Vahana of the mid nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the peacock
or vehicle for the gods. The figure, from the akimbo placement of its carving for all its lifelike vigor shows very little sign of foreign influence.
wings and the flattening of the volumes at the back, has been designed The stylized and heraldic posture of the bird with its frontal wings
to make its best effect in a position standing against a wall. It serves and bifurcated tail (next to the wingtips on the base), and the expres-
purely as an object of decoration and pleasure. sively quirky head - equal parts smile and grimace - are authentically
Indian. The feathered mono-brow and ruff, are exotic touches which
The base of the peacock, made from two carefully joined pieces of seem positively archaic to western eyes.
wood, consists of a roundel on which the bird itself is standing, and
below that a stepped rectangular foot with a distinctive foliate Footnote 1:- With regard to peacocks as “symbols of royalty throughout
border. The particular motif on this border can first be seen in the India” and their use on thrones and palace furniture, see Furniture From
Red Fort at Delhi, completed by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan British India And Ceylon, Peabody Essex Museum (2001), pages 224 - 227,
in 1648, where it appears on the bases and capitals of pillars in the by Amin Jaffer.

MICHAEL C. HUGHES LLC | ASIAN ART Fig. 2):- “The Peacock Throne of the Dewan Khas of the Red Fort”, watercolor and gold on
paper, dated November 1852, from an album by Ghulam Ali Khan (fl. 1817 - c.1855). Bonhams.

4. A rare Korean or possibly Chinese
large triangular silk banner
Chosen Dynasty

Of primarily orange tone centered by a disc of gold metal thread encircled by
silver (?) metal thread, all hanging from four cloth ties
Approx 78 inches long
For two other Chinese Banners, see Gong Wu Yi Tu Lu (Palace Relics Catalogue),
Beijing, pp. 264-265, no. 415 (Moon Banner) and 416 (Five Star Banner)

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5. A rare pair of embroidered temple
banners, 18th Century

The top formed as a cloud-shaped capital enclosing a yellow silk brocade
from which hangs five embroidered streamers with pointed ends which
graduate and change textile pattern at various places along their length,
becoming six streamers at about the mid point and finally ending in
four, the grounds alternately floral and geometric and either blue or
gold ground, 87 inches long
For a similar though slightly shorter pair of banners see Christie’s New
York, 19 March 2008, The Imperial Wardrobe, Fine Chinese Costume
and Textiles From the Linda Wrigglesworth Collection, lot 141

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6. A blue and sancai-glazed pale pottery jar
Tang Dynasty, 618-906

Of squat rounded shape, with molded or incised horizontal bands either
side of the mid-section and on the shoulder and with eight evenly-spaced
five-petaled florets on the shoulder all under a primarily blue glaze with the
florets picked out in cream, ochre and green splashes and the lower section
with mottled splashes of ochre and green, the short waisted neck under a
brown glaze, the base with simple foot ring, 8 inches diam.
Provenance: West Coast Collection

Japanese Private Collection

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7. A rare gilt-metal and blue and white A composite late Ming Dynasty incense burner with Turkish gold and silver mounts,
gourd vase (Ming) and blue and white Wanli, second half of the 16th Century. Credit: T. Misugi, Chinese Porcelain
wine cups and saucers (Qing) mounted Collections in the Near East, Vol. 2, The Topkapi Museum, Instanbul, Hong Kong
as a chandelier University Press 1981, p. 193, no. T.113
The vase Wanli (1573-1619) the wine
bowls and saucers (1720-1750) A silver-mounted late Ming Dynasty blue and white gourd-
shaped vase, Wanli, (1573-1619). Credit: Maura Rinaldi,
The chandelier centered by a Wanli period “Kraak porselien” gourd-shaped Kraak Porcelain, London, 1989, pp.172-173, pl. 216
vase painted with flowers, fruit and foliage on alternate molded arch-shaped
panels on a ground of ribboned objects, artemesia leaves and fans on the
lower larger bulb and with fruit and flower panels divided by two panels with
stands supporting vessels on the smaller upper bulb, gilt metal mounts at the
mouth and base and three large gilt-metal foliage arms attached to the lower
bulb and supporting three scalloped-edged wine or tea bowls and saucers
painted with figural and landscape scenes pierced for candle holders (together
with an up-turned 18th century vase lid mounted in gilt metal to form a hanging
support for the entire chandelier). Approx. 18 inches across and 13 inches high.
There was a fascination in both the Near East and indeed Europe with the
mounting of Chinese blue and white porcelain during the Ming and Qing
dynasties in contemporary metal mounts of the importing country.
It is difficult to be sure of exactly where the gilt metal mounts on our example
were made as they appear to lack any identifying stamps. They are almost
certainly European and probably French. However such wares as these, both
the ‘kraak’ gourd vase and the tea or wine bowls and saucers, were largely
imported via the various East India companies across Europe. The name
‘kraak’ in fact derives from the Portugese name for the seafaring vessels,
carrack, that brought the porcelain from the ports in China.

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8. A rare straw-glazed pale pottery figure A Central Asian Merchant,
of a Semetic merchant, Tang Dynasty, first half 8th Century. British
618-906 Museum, London

The figure leaning slightly forward and carrying a large rolled-up blanket tied
to his back by robes strung over his shoulders, holding a phoenix-headed
ewer in his righthand and wearing a large-lapelled tunic tied at the waist and
knee-length boots, the thoughtful face with beard, large nose and a tall
peaked hat, 14 1/2 inches high
Provenance: West Coast Collection

Japanese Private Collection
For two quite similar unglazed painted pottery figures of slightly smaller size
originally in the Ezekiel Schloss collection, see Christie’s New York, 21 March
2000, lot 268. Another similar is also illustrated by Ezekiel Schloss, Ancient
Chinese Ceramic Sculpture, From Han through T’ang, Vol. 1, Stamford, CT,
1977, pp.105-107, fig. 12. See also an example with a degraded transparent
lead glaze in the British Museum, London illustrated by William Watson,
Tang and Liao Ceramiics, Fribourg 1984, p. 212, no. 238, ascribed to Henan or
Shaanxi province in the first half of the 8th century
Of all the published examples this appears to be amongst the finest

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9. A superb sancai-glazed pale pottery jar,
Tang Dynasty, 618-906

The rounded ovoid body glazed with an attractive sancai glaze with dribbling
streaks of green, brown and straw glaze, all below a brown-glazed short
waisted neck, surrounded by a low-relief band of chevron encircling the neck
at the shoulder, the base unglazed and flat, 9 inches high

Provenance: West Coast Collection
Japanese Private Collection

The low-relief band of chevrons at the base of the neck appears to be
extremely rare, and adds a delicate touch to the otherwise simple though
stunning form. For another example of similar shape but with the addition of
a blue glaze from the Collection Baur, Geneva, no. 596, see William Watson,
Tang and Liao Ceramiics, Fribourg 1984, p. 165, no. 157, ascribed to Henan or
Shaanxi province in the first half of the 8th century

Sancai Jar, Collection Baur, Geneva

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10. A rare lead figure of a courtly gentleman. A pair of rare lead plaques as standing ladies,
Late Wei to early Tang Dynasty, Six Dynasties / Tang Dynasty. Credit:
4th/ 7th Century Christie’s, London, 8 December 1975, Lot 66

The figure in semi-profile, wearing a small peaked cap with a triangular flap at A rare set of three lead plaques as standing
the front, his mustachioed face with a soft benign expression, his eyebrows ladies, Six Dynasties / Tang Dynasty. Credit:
neatly delineated, his simple edged robe, with a thin rope-twist piping par- Christie’s, London, 8 December 1975, Lot 67
ticularly visible on the voluminous sleeves that he holds at his front, the lower
part of the robe with folds and a hem above simple boots. 7 1/8 inches high (18 cm.).

Provenance: Anne Bigelow Stern Estate, New York City
Ralph M. Chait Galleries, New York, 1980
A.W.Brankston Collection, England, UK

This extremely rare lead figure may originally have formed part of a relief
panel or perhaps was an appliqué of some form. It appears to date some-
where between the late Wei and the early Tang dynasty. It can be favorably
compared to figures found on both late Han and Wei relief bricks or stone
stele and also to a number of other known lead (or soft metal) figures from
the late Zhou dynasty (3rd-2nd BCE) through to the Tang dynasty.

For a group of lead plaques sold at public auction, see Christie’s, London, 8
December 1975, lots 66, 67 and 68.

For an example of a slightly smaller lead figure of a court lady and of perhaps
a slightly later date in the Tang Dynasty, see International Exhibition of Chi-
nese Art, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1935-36, p. 80 and illustration p.
99, no. 1025, from the Collection of Charles L. Rutherston.

For an earlier example dated ‘probably Chou (Zhou) Dynasty’ see, Sotheby’s,
London, 2 July 1968, lot 11. It is more naïve (as one would expect) than our
example, but like ours the face (and the ribs) are both in slight relief.

For an example of a slightly later stone stele from the University Museum,
Philadelphia, dated to 525 AD (N. Wei Dynasty) with similar robed figures,
see Bradley Smith and Wan-go Weng, China, A History in Art, New York,
1972, p. 110, pl. 111b and figure relief from the Wei dynasty, that shows some
similar characteristics, see Sotheby’s, London, 14 July 1970, lot 65.

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11. A rare bronze reliquary and cover, A stupa-shaped bronze vessel, Tang Dynasty,
Tang Dynasty, 618-906 Tokyo National Museum
A gilt-bronze reliquary, sold at Christie’s London,
The lower half of stem-cup shape with shallow rounded sides supported on a simple waisted 7-10 December 1984, lot 732
stem and short cylindrical foot, the domed cover of stupa shape with raised central section
surmounted by a seven canopies (chattras) of umbrella form with onion-shaped finial,
some malachite and azurite encrustation, hole to one side, 9 inches high
Provenance: West Coast Collection

Japanese Private Collection
The practice of enshrining sacred ashes with reliquaries was common to India, China,
Korea and Japan. In India, the stupa, originally a funerary monument, was the symbol of the
historical Buddha’s nirvana–his release from the karmic cycle of rebirth and suffering. As the
repository of his relics, it was at the center of monastic architecture and monastic worship.
In China, its importance was reflected in the lofty forms of multi-storied pagodas, in which
only the topmost ornaments preserved the hemispherical form of the Indian original
For another very similar stupa-shaped bronze vessel dated to the 8th Century, with a finial
with two umbrella’s and three onion-shaped knops, see the Tokyo National Museum
Handbook, (Middle & Near East), Tokyo 1998, no. 52
See also the Special Exhibition, Sources of Japanese Buddhist Art, Catalogue, 29 April – 11
June, 1978, Tokyo National Museum, for a poly-chromed-wood Chinese or Central Asian
example from the Museum fur Indische Kunst, Berlin-Dahlem, no. 9; a Korean example
from a private collection, Seoul, no. 10; and a Japanese example from the Tokyo National
Museum, no. 11
For a very similar Japanese example dated to the Nara period but with fewer umbrella’s,
originally from the famous Horyu-ji pagoda, Nara (founded in AD 607) and now in the
Tokyo National Museum, catalogued as the copper alloy Sahari, see www.tnm.jp - (metal-
works), another example in the same collection has four containers including a gilt-bronze
covered bowl, a smaller silver spherical bowl and a slightly smaller gold bowl along with a
glass bottle.
See a very similar gilt-bronze example sold at Christie’s London, 7-10 December 1984, lot
732, but with the addition of fine engraving to the surface.

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12. A rare red pottery Buddhist amulet
Gandhara, 4th /5th Century

The Buddha wearing monastic robes and holding a kundika or waterpot, sits
in padma asana on a half open lotus flower, with serene expression and halo
framing the head, the reverse flat and roughly hewn, 3 inches high
The serene expression of his face and the carefully modeled folds of
his garment, are typical of the style of Gandhara in the 4th or 5th century. So
too is the hairstyle, worn pulled back over the usnisa or cranial protuberance,
rather than with the repeated “snail” curls which were iconographic in other
parts of North India at the same period.
Terracotta amulets for personal worship with various subjects - deities, stupas,
temples, texts, and sacred objects such as the Vajra or thunderbolt - are
found from all over the Buddhist world This sweetly transcendent Buddha,
however, which clearly shows the hand of its maker in the dented clay, is a
very rare example of an actual image produced in ancient Gandhara during
the 4th or 5th century.

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13. A pair of painted and sancai-glazed
buff-pottery earth spirits, zhenmu shou
Tang Dynasty, 618-906

Each mythical beast seated on its haunches upon a rockwork base, one with
unglazed humanoid face detailed in red pigment, the other with a glazed leonine-
like head and ferocious expression, each with feathered wings at the shoulders
and forked crests, the bodies glazed in green, amber and straw, 31 inches high

Provenance: Private East Coast Collection, USA
Christie’s New York, 18 September 1997, Lot 355

Guardian figures of this type were usually found in pairs accompanied by a
further pair of human-form guardian figures strategically positioned at the
entrances of Tang tombs. Both figures are covered in the typical Tang sancai
glazes of vivid earth tones with the brightness of the green and the deep shade
of the golden yellow-brown colors especially noteworthy. The sharp contrast
between the opulence of the glazes and the areas left unglazed is particularly
striking, heightening the dramatic effect.

An earth spirit similar to the one with leonine face is illustrated in the Idemitsu 15th
Anniversary Catalogue, 1981, no. 630, and a figure similar to the example with
humanoid face, but larger, excavated in Guanlin, Luoyang, and now in the Liaoning
Provincial Museum, is illustrated in Da Sancai, No. 14

Another leonine-headed earth spirit from the tomb of Prince Zhanghuai,
Qian County, Shaanxi province was included in the exhibition, The Quest for
Eternity, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, October 15, 1987 - January 3, 1988,
Catalogue, pp. 38, 131 and 132, no. 64

See also the pair in the Avery Brundage Collection, Asian Art Museum of San
Francisco, B60 S52, illustrated by William Watson, Tang and Liao Ceramics,
Fribourg 1984, pp. 205-207, no. 228, ascribed to Henan or Shaanxi province in the
first half of the 8th century

The result of Oxford Thermoluminescence, no. C97c90 is consistent with the
dating of these figures

A pair of sancai-glazed earth spirits, Tang Dynasty, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto

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14. A rare blue, amber and straw-glazed pale A sancai-glazed lady with a goose vessel, Tang Dynasty, The Arthur M. Sackler Collections,
pottery figure of a man holding a goose, sold Christie’s New York, 1 December 1994, lot 151A
Tang Dynasty, 618-906

Modeled as a curly-haired foreigner with large nose, seated atop a cloth-draped rocky
outcrop, his raised and folded right leg helping to support a plump goose held in his arms,
with a cone placed in its open beak, 12 inches high
Provenance: Private East Coast Collection, USA

The Estate of Neil F. Phillips, Esq, Q.C.
Christie’s New York, 25 March 1998, Lot 131A
Christie’s New York, 4 June 1987, Lot 203
The result of Oxford Thermoluminescence, no. 366t95 is consistent with the dating of
this figure
Figures of this type incorporating blue in addition to the usual sancai glaze are unusual
and comparatively rare. It is thought that the cobalt for the blue glaze was an expensive
imported commodity and therefore used on pieces produced for wealthier patrons.
For other sancai examples see The Tsui Museum of Art, Chinese Ceramics: Neolithic to
Liao, Vol. 1, Hong Kong, 1993, no. 128 and another from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections
was sold at Christie’s New York, 1 December 1994, lot 151A. See also a figure in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art Exhibition of the Arts of Ancient China, 1975, Catalogue,
no. 72, and illustrated in the Idemitsu Museum of Art 15th Anniversary Catalogue, 1981, no. 624
The model is sometimes identified as a wine vessel, and one such, a man with similar
foreign features, was included in the exhibition, Treasures from the Reitberg Museum,
The Asia Society, New York, 1980, Catalogue, no. 43. For further discussion of these types
of figures, see Jan Chapman, ‘A New Look at the “Wine Seller” among Tang Tomb Figu-
rines’, T.O.C.S, vol. 52, 1987-88, where she suggests that the animals and birds held by
these figures represent earthenware wine containers and that the funnel in their mouths and
beaks serves as a stopper which could also be used as a wine cup. Another interpretation
is that the scene depicts the force-feeding of the goose to plump it up.

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15. A rare molded sancai-glazed pale
pottery pilgrim flask,
Tang Dynasty, 618-906

The heart-shaped body of flattened form set on a flaring biscuit foot
and crisply molded with a long-sleeved dancing figure on each main face
surrounded by floral scrolling, possibly grapes, below two lug handles at the
shoulder and high-relief lappets at the neck, all under a sancai glaze
6 5/8 inches high

For a lengthy discussion of Tang dynasty, so-called ‘pilgrim flasks’, see William
Watson, Tang and Liao Ceramics, Fribourg, 1984, pp.144-147, pls. 123-126,
where the author notes the obvious influences from Persian metalwork
vessels and West-Asian taste in decoration.

A variety of pilgrim flasks molded with leafy design and dancing figures exist,
differing in the combination of floral design and figures represented and the
neck decoration but all follow a similar format. For another example see
‘Ancient Chinese Bronze Vessels, Gilt Bronzes and Early Ceramics’, Eskenazi,
London, 1973, Catalogue, no. 49. Another was offered at Sotheby’s New York,
19 March 1997, lot 204

A brown-glazed pilgrim flask, Tang Dynasty, Victoria and Albert Museum, London

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16. A painted pale pottery male court
official. Tang Dynasty, 8th Century

Standing with hands clasped at his chest below a floral breast plate held by
straps over his shoulder connected to a green-painted back plate to his
reverse, which echos the green painted to his baggy sleeve linings, his shoes
upturned and poking out from below his long robes, all supported on an
integral and unusually vibrantly depicted rockwork base, his face smiling and
with delicately cut and painted facial features below his tightly coiffed hair
held beneath his simple headgear, 34 1/2 inches high
Provenance: A Private Florida Collection

Christie’s, New York, 27 November 1991, lot 292
The result of an Oxford thermoluminescense test no. 566u20 is consistent
with the dating of this lot.
The magnificent details of this unusual figure suggest a tomb of some
importance. For a pair of similar figures from the tomb of a Tang official Li
Siben, buried in 709 CE in Xingyuan village near Yanshi, Henan Provence ,
see Kaogu, 1986, no. 5, pl. VII:2
Compare also, another figure of this size and type, but with differing details
of clothing from the Eumorfopoulos Collection, illustrated by Ayers, Far
Eastern Art in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1980, col. Pl. 10.

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17. An ochre and straw-glazed pale pottery An amber-glazed striding camel, Tang Dynasty. Credit: Special Exhibition, Chinese Ceramics, Tokyo National Museum, 1994,
Bactrian camel. Tang Dynasty, p. 87, no. 122 (From the Kyoto National Museum)
8th Century

Standing four-square on a rectangular base with head raised turning slightly
to it’s right in a braying action, the head tufts, throat, humps, tail and the top
of the legs straw-glazed and ruffled, the rest of the body with a rich ochre
glaze pooling darkly in places, each hump falling naturalistically to one side,
26 1/2 inches high

Provenance: A Private Florida Collection
Sotheby’s New York, 12 June 1984, lot 189, Estate of Erna Levi
Dreyfuss

This is an exceedingly realistic un-caparisoned camel, of a type seen all along
the famed ‘Silk Route’ stretching from China to the eager markets of Central
Asia, Samarkand, Persia and Syria. In the Tang Dyansty (618-907) camels
really did live up to the description of them as ‘ships of the desert’ and were
used to transport goods, including silk, across the difficult terrain. Camels can
be seen as symbolic of the cosmopolitanism of the Tang capital at Xian
(Chang’an). They carried on their return journeys, many of the exotic luxuries
from the west that were desired by the sophisticated Tang court.

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. Its amazing ability to survive the hardships of
travel across the Asian deserts was soon recognized and Imperial camel
herds were established under the administration of a special Bureau. These
Imperial camel herds, numbering several thousand, were used for a range of
state duties, including the provision of a military courier service for the North-
ern Frontier. Camels were not only prized as resilient beasts of burden, their
hair was also used to produce a cloth admired for its lightness and warmth.

Not surprisingly, this type of model was made to be placed in the tombs of the
Tang elite in the first half of the 8th century, and provide an obvious indication
of the wealth of a family who could afford to inter such costly goods.

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18. A group of three painted pale-pottery
seated performers,
Tang Dynasty, 618-906

Each wearing voluminous robes and in animated postures performing, one
figure curiously modeled with wide and drum-shaped mouth held open with
his hands raised above, the other two appear to be singing,
Each approx. 4 inches high
Provenance: Private West Coast Collection, USA

Sotheby’s New York, 2 June 1993, lot 264
Exhibited: Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1996-2010 (temporary loan)
These charming and relatively rare figures appear to represent performers of
the Shuochang tradition, a type of entertainment popular at this time. It is a
form of traditional storytelling, usually combining speaking and singing ac-
companied by percussion and stringed instruments. They were made with
great attention to realistic details in order to fulfill their basic role of providing
entertainment and comfort to the owner in his after-life.
For a similar trio of performers see ‘Treasures of Chang’an: Capital of the Silk
Road’, Exhibition catalogue, Shaanxi Historical Museum, no. 76, Hong Kong
Museum of Art and the Overseas Exhibitions Department, Cultural Bureau
of Shaanxi, Xian: Xianggang shi zheng ju, 1993. See also a set of seven musicians
of similar type offered at Sotheby’s New York, 30 March 2006, lot 289

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19. An unusual painted gray pottery A glazed figure of a dwarf, Tang Dynasty, Seattle Art Museum: Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection, Washington
dwarf-like figure, Six Dynasties,
220-589 / Northern Wei Dynasty,
386-535

The short stocky figure modeled with arms held far apart and with his right
knee slightly bent, wearing simple robes simply delineated with a string-like
collar and cuffs and highlighted in orange pigment with horizontal bands
which emphasize a protruding belly and rounded buttocks, a thick muscular
neck supports a large rounded head with high cheekbones, bulging eyes
with ridged eyebrows, and pointed up-turned nose, 19 inches high
Provenance: Private West Coast Collection, USA

Christie’s New York, 3 December 1992, lot 228
Exhibited: Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1996-2010 (temporary loan)
This unusual figure is similar in style and posture to a pair of figures described
as “guardian warriors” excavated at Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous
Region in 1975 and ascribed to the Northern Wei Dynasty, see A.F.Howard,
et al, Chinese Sculpture, Yale University Press, 2006
The Colville Collection at the Colby Museum of Art, Maine has another
guardian figure dated to the Six Dynasties, see http://tinylink.in/RG9
The result of Oxford Thermoluminescence, no. 66g46 is consistent with the
dating of this figure

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20. A group of three painted gray pottery
entertainers, Warring States, 451-221 BC

Two figures standing and one seated, painted in black, grey and white pigments,
and each modeled with high cheekbones, long noses, and pouting lips
highlighted with red pigment, each with their hair tied in a high topknot
9 inches high (tallest)

Provenance: Private West Coast Collection, USA
Christie’s New York, 3 December 1992, lot 216

Exhibited: Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1996-2010 (temporary loan)

These remarkable and rare figures, presumably representing entertainers at
court, and would have been placed in the burial chamber, along with other
recognizable retinues or objects.

For a similar group of painted singers and musicians excavated from a
4th century BC tomb in Zhangqiu, in Shangdong province, see A.F.
Howard et al, Chinese Sculpture, Yale University Press, 2006. A group of
bronze human-form supports dated to the early Warring States period
excavated in 1972 at Fenshuiling, Changzhi, Shanxi province, now in the
Shanxi Provincial Museum with similar features and costume to our three
examples is illustrated in Zhongguo meishu quanji – Gongyi meishubian, vol. 5
(Bronze), p. 23, pl. 62

The result of Oxford Thermoluminescence, no. 666e29 is consistent with
the dating of these figures

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21. A rare painted gray pottery Two painted gray pottery ‘acrobat’ tripod vessels, lian, Han Dyansty (206BC – 220AD). Credit: The website ‘cernuschi.paris.fr/en/collections/lian-acrobats’,
“Acrobat” tripod vessel, lian, The Musee Cernuschi, Paris, acc. No. M.C. 9799-9800
Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD)

The cylindrical vessel supported on three short legs, the exterior with
remnants of red and white pigment, the rim supporting two acrobats
performing handstands, each with a foot resting against the other acrobats
foot for support and also forming a handle for the vessel, 6 1/2 inches high
Provenance: Private West Coast Collection

Christie’s New York, 3 June 1993, lot 154
Exhibited: Minneapolis Institute of Art, Lively Art of Han exhibition, 1990
On Loan: 1996-2010
The result of Thermoluminescence test, Oxford 666j77 is consistent with the
dating of this lot.
The earliest lians known were made in metal, either in plain or gilded bronze,
and considered wine vessels. However, lacquer versions found in tombs,
containing personal grooming implements suggest they may have been
used as make up boxes. This type of lian with handles in the form of acrobats
is rather rare. Several examples were found in the Luoyang tombs of Henan,
in Mianonaxin and Qilihe (near Luoyang). They would have been placed
in the tomb along with other figures to represent the theme of banquets,
enlivened by orchestras, dancers and acrobats.
Two other examples can be found in the Musee Cernuschi, Paris, no’s. M.C.
9799 and M.C. 9800, see the website ‘cernuschi.paris.fr/en/collections/lian-
acrobats’and also discussed by Marie-Therese Bobot, The Musee Cernuschi in
Paris, New Acquistions: 1982-92, Orientations, August 1992, p. 55, where the
author states that “the only other example known, was found in an Eastern Han
Tomb in Luoyang in Henan province in 1972 (Kaogu, 1975:2, pp.116-23)”

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22. A pair of painted pale pottery male
court officials. Tang Dynasty,
8th Century

Each standing with hands clasped at his chest covered by long interior sleeves
protruding from the full baggy sleeves of his tunic, below a floral breast plate
held by straps over his shoulder connected to a green-painted back plate to
his reverse, his cloud-toed shoes upturned and poking out from below his
long robes, each supported on an integral rockwork base with darker pigments,
each face smiling and with delicately painted facial features below his tightly
coiffed hair held beneath an official’s hat, each approx. 31 inches high
Provenance: A Private West Coast Collection

Christie’s New York, 3 June 1993, lot 167
Exhibited: On Loan to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1996-2010
The result of Thermoluminescence test, Oxford 666k79 is consistent with
the dating of this lot.
Two similar officials from the Shaanxi Historical Museum are illustrated in
Treasures of Chang’an: Capital of the Silk Road, Catalogue, Xian, 1993, nos.
48 and 52.

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23. A superb painted gray pottery A painted gray pottery figure
figure of a foreign groom of a foreign groom Northern Wei
Northern Wei Dynasty Dynasty (386-535 AD)
(386-535 AD) Credit: Special Exhibition, Chinese
Ceramics, Tokyo National Museum,
Standing with left arm bent upward and right arm down, in a position to 1994, p. 59, no. 82
hold the reins of a horse, wearing a three-quarter-length double-breasted
red-painted tunic with folded lapels exposing his bare chest, a thin belt is
tightly drawn at his waist highlighting his slightly swelling belly and a pouch
attached at one hip, the face delicately modeled with sharp chiseled features
accentuating his large nose and furrowed brows with deep-set large eyes
suggestive of a central Asian heritage, his hair tied under a simple cap,
24 inches high
Provenance: A Private West Coast Collection

Christie’s New York, 2 December 1993, lot 218
Exhibited: On Loan to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1996-2010
The result of Thermoluminescence test, Oxford 666q36 is consistent with
the dating of this lot.
Compare with a similar figure modeled with feet together and wearing a
non-lapeled tunic, illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu, vol. 8, pls. 132 & 133 and
another in the Tokyo National Museum, illustrated in ‘Special Exhibition
Chinese Ceramics’ Catalogue, Tokyo, 1994, p.59, no. 82.

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24. A rare and unusual painted red pottery
figure of a ‘pearl diver’ or ‘wrestler,’
Tang Dynasty, 618-906

The figure modeled with feet set apart and arms bent at the elbows and
held forward, wearing loose-fitting orange pantaloons with a connecting
strap over his right shoulder, the eyes accentuated in white beneath thick
curls of hair, 9 inches high

Provenance: Private West Coast Collection
Christie’s New York, 2 June 1994, lot 245

Exhibited: On Loan to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1996-2010

The result of Thermoluminescence test, Oxford 666w83 is consistent with
the dating of this figure

Figures of this type are variously described as ‘pearl divers’, ‘wrestlers’ or
‘foreign African grooms’.

A similar but smaller figure was included in the Hong Kong Museum of Art
exhibition, “Treasures of Chang’an – Capital of the Silk Road”, October 15,
1993 – January 2, 1994, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Catalogue, no. 73, pp.
196-197. The catalogues mentions the unearthing of African figures from
Tang tombs and that according to official documents of the Tang Dynasty,
Shunai (present-day Somalia) sent an ambassador to Chang’an (Xian) in
629 AD. It is suggested that the Shunai peoples formed part of the so-
called Kunlun tribes. Kunlun slaves were admired for their skill in taming
animals but also their ability to stay under water for long periods of time
and were sought after and trained as pearl divers.

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25. An unusual painted grey pottery A painted pottery figure of
standing foreigner, possibly a groom, a foreigner, Six Dynasties,
Tang Dynasty, 618-906 similar fur treatment to coat,
Christie’s New York, 16
Possibly depicting a Central Asian or a Mongolian, wearing a thick winter September 1999, part lot 275
fur coat left open at the front and vented at the back, his undershirt falling
over his tall black boots, the left hand concealed within the sleeve, the head
tilted upward with large rounded cheeks and hair neatly tied back in to
three strands at the back, 17 3/8 inches high
Provenance: Private West Coast Collection

Christie’s New York, 20 March 1997, lot 378
Exhibited: On Loan to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1996-2010
The result of Thermoluminescence test, Oxford 866b95 is consistent with
the dating of this figure
The thick coat with its broad triangular collar and the tall leather boots, are
typical of Central Asian or Mongolian dress, and are similar to those
worn by a foreign dignitary depicted in a wall painting of 706 in the tomb
of Li Xian, Crown Prince Zhanghuai at Qianling, Shaanxi province, see
http:tinyurl.com/7ja95nb
The Metropolitan Museum also has a similar figure see
http:tinyurl.com/7sybpvd

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26. A sancai-glazed male equestrian figure,
Tang Dynasty, 618-906

Modeled as a foreigner, the horse standing foursquare on a rectangular base
with the head turned slightly to the left and the combed mane falling to one
side, the riders unglazed face detailed in red and black pigment with a beard
and long moustache and wearing a tunic with broad lapels, a bulging pouch
tied around his waist, 15 inches high

Provenance: Private New York Collection
Christie’s, New York, 18 September 1997,
The Jingguantang Collection,
Part III, Lot 132 (1 of 2)
The Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong

Exhibited: Empire of the Dragons: Chinese Art Treasures Through 4,000 Years
from Hong Kong, Sweden and Denmark, Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Aarhus,
Denmark, 1995, no. 36

Literature: The Tsui Museum of Art: Chinese Ceramics I: Neolithic to Liao,
Hong Kong, 1993, cat. No. 95 (left)

A related foreign rider, excavated from the tomb of Prince Yide in Qianxian,
Shaanxi province, dated in accordance with AD706, and now in the Shaanxi
Historical Museum, Xi’an, is illustrated in Zhongguo taoci quanji, vol. 6, Shanghai,
2000, pl. 85

Compare also the bearded Western Asian rider in the Dr. and Mrs. Howard
Balensweig Collection included in the exhibition, The Silk Road, Treasures of
Tang China, The Empress Palace Museum, Singapore, 1991, Catalogue, p.31;
and another in the Royal Ontario Museum is illustrated in Homage To Heaven,
Homage To Earth, Chinese Treasures of the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto,
1992, pp.146-147, no. 84

The result of Thermoluminescence test, Oxford C97c78 is consistent with the
dating of this figure

A sancai-glazed equestrian, Tang Dynasty, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto

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27. A sancai-glazed equestrian figure
Tang Dynasty, 618-906

The rider with upright body and hands positioned to hold reigns, wearing yellow
robes with green lapels and a bulging pouch tied around the back of the waist,
the boots glazed brown, the saddle and blanket with brown glaze, the horse
primarily straw-glazed but with amber on the mane and head and streaking
down the body and covering the tail, 17 inches high

Provenance: A Private New York Collection
Christie’s, New York, 20 March 1997, Lot 376
The Adele and Stanley Herzman Collection, New York

Literature: Susanne G. Valenstein, The Herzman Collection of Chinese Ceramics,
New York, 1992, no. 18

The result of Thermoluminescence test, Oxford 866d95 is consistent with the
dating of this figure

A sancai-glazed lady on horseback, Tang Dynasty, Freer Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

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28. A sancai-glazed equestrian figure
Tang Dynasty, 618-906

Mounted as a scroll, and depicting a variety of species, including
cranes, golden pheasants, cockerels and quail and others flying or
standing amidst a gnarled pine, plum blossom sprays and other
vegetation, 20 inches x 16 inches, mounted on a larger scroll

See Embroidered Pictures, The Complete Collection of Treasures
of the Palace Museum, Vol. 52, pp. 48-49, No. 19, for a quite similar
though larger embroidery entitled ‘ Hundred Birds Singing’ and
attributed to Guandong production during the Qing Dynasty,
depicting many of the same species of birds and particularly close
in the treatment of the pheasants and cockerels and vegetation.
Another example, ibid, p. 55, No. 24, depicts deer below pine but
also with very similar cockerels

Guangdong Embroidery, Qing Dynasty, National Palace Museum, Beijing Guangdong Embroidery, National Palace Museum, Beijing

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29. A Chinese ivory figure of Guanyin and
child, Late Ming Dynasty

Standing with serene expression and holding a small child to her right side,
supporting his underside with her right hand and his feet with her left from
which dangles two rows of beads, the child clutching a lotus stem in his left
hand and a peach in his right, 8 1/4 inches high, wood stand

For a comparable example from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, see Warren
E. Cox, Chinese Ivory Sculpture, New York, 1946, no. 3, dated by Cox to the
MIng dynasty but to the reign of the Emperor Kangxi (1662-1722).

Another very similar sold at Christie’s New York, 31 May 2010, lot 2036

Two comparable examples, one from a Private Collection, France
the other from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

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30. A Longquan celadon lotus bowl A Longquan celadon bowl from the
Southern Song Dynasty, Zhejiang, Linyushanren Collection
(1127-1279)
A Longquan celadon bowl from the
Of usual conical form, with lightly molded lotus petals to the exterior and plain Gemeentemuseum, The Hague
to the interior, a tall foot ring and glazed base
Provenance: Estate of Philip Scott

E & J Frankel, New York
For two comparable examples see the Catalogue of the exhibition, The Classic
Age of Chinese Ceramics, Song Treasures from the Linyushanren Collection, held
At Christie’s, New York, March 2013, pp.164-165, no. 67; and also an example
from the Gemeentemuseum, The Hague illustrated by Mary Tregear, Song
Ceramics, Fribourg, 1982, p. 167, no. 228

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