2nd Jun, 2023 11:00

Fine Chinese Art / 中國藝術集珍 / Buddhism & Hinduism

 
  Lot 62
 

62

A PAINTED POTTERY FIGURE OF A POLO PLAYER, SUI TO TANG DYNASTY
隋唐時期彩繪馬球仕女俑

Sold for €10,400

including Buyer's Premium


Lot details

China, 581-907. Modeled sitting in a saddle on a galloping horse, her head facing forward, her hair tied into a high chignon, the face finely painted with eyes and red lips, the arms bent to swing a polo stick, the horse energetically leaping forward extending all legs to their fullest in mid-air, its mouth agape and ears pricked.

Provenance
: From an old private collection in Illinois, USA.
Condition: Some repair, filling and touchups as generally expected from authentic Sui and Tang dynasty excavations. Losses, fissures, firing cracks, and encrustations, remnants of pigments. Natural wear and weathering overall.

Weight: 2,988 g (excl. stand), 4,788 g (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Length 36.8 cm

With a modern stand. (2)

The earliest literary and visual evidence of polo in China dates from the 7th and 8th centuries, including stories of polo-playing emperors and members of the imperial family. A mural depicting a game of polo, datable to the years AD 706-11, found in the tomb of Li Xian, Crown Prince Zhanghuai (AD 654-84), is discussed and illustrated by J. Fontein and Wu Tung in Han and Tang Murals, Boston, 1976, p. 101, nos. 122-25, col. pl. 15.

Literature comparison:
Pottery figures of polo players fall into two categories: dynamic riders seated on horses shown in full "flying gallop", with no support or stand, and elegant riders seated stiffly on horses standing on a rectangular base. The present figures belong to the first category, as do the four closely related figures of female polo players in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, dated ca. 650-700, object numbers 48-31/1, 2, 3, and 4. See, also, the figure in the Tenri Museum in Japan, illustrated by Hasebe and Sato, Sekai toji zenshu, vol. 11, Tokyo, 1976, pl. 183.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s Paris, 18 October 2018, lot 118
Price: EUR 16,250 or approx. EUR 19,000 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A painted pottery figure of a polo player, Sui dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related pose, pigments, and size (38 cm)



隋唐時期彩繪馬球仕女俑
中國,581-907年。仕女著緊身服、騎馬,面目刻畫精緻,手中木質鞠杖已朽失,但策馬打球的身姿栩栩如生。

來源:美國伊利諾斯州私人舊藏。
品相:一些修復、填充和潤色。有缺失、裂縫、燒製裂紋和結殼、顏料殘留物。整體自然磨損和風化。

重量:2,988 克 (不含底座),4,788 克 (含底座)
尺寸:長 36.8 厘米

現代底座 (2)

中國最早的馬球歷史可追溯到七世紀至八世紀,一些文學中還描述了打馬球的皇帝和皇室成員的故事。見章懷太子李賢(654-84) 之墓,見J. Fontein、Wu Tung in Han和Tang Murals,波士頓,1976年,頁101,編號122-25,彩圖15。

文獻比較:
彩繪馬球人俑可見於兩種形式:一種是充滿活力的騎手坐在馬背上,展現出全力"飛奔"的型態,沒有支撐物或支架;另一種則是優雅的騎手僵硬地坐在馬背上,人俑立於長方形底座上。現拍品屬於第一種形式。四件非常相近的馬球仕女俑,收藏於Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art,年代為650-700,收藏編號48-31/1,2,3和4。另一件收藏於日本天理參考館,見Hasebe和Sato,《Sekai toji zenshu》,卷11,東京,1976年,頁183。

拍賣結果比較:
形制:非常相近
拍賣:巴黎蘇富比,2018年10月18日,lot 118
價格:EUR 16,250(相當於今日EUR 19,000
描述:隋代彩繪馬球人俑
專家評論:比較非常相近的姿勢、顏料,以及尺寸 (38厘米)。

 

China, 581-907. Modeled sitting in a saddle on a galloping horse, her head facing forward, her hair tied into a high chignon, the face finely painted with eyes and red lips, the arms bent to swing a polo stick, the horse energetically leaping forward extending all legs to their fullest in mid-air, its mouth agape and ears pricked.

Provenance
: From an old private collection in Illinois, USA.
Condition: Some repair, filling and touchups as generally expected from authentic Sui and Tang dynasty excavations. Losses, fissures, firing cracks, and encrustations, remnants of pigments. Natural wear and weathering overall.

Weight: 2,988 g (excl. stand), 4,788 g (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Length 36.8 cm

With a modern stand. (2)

The earliest literary and visual evidence of polo in China dates from the 7th and 8th centuries, including stories of polo-playing emperors and members of the imperial family. A mural depicting a game of polo, datable to the years AD 706-11, found in the tomb of Li Xian, Crown Prince Zhanghuai (AD 654-84), is discussed and illustrated by J. Fontein and Wu Tung in Han and Tang Murals, Boston, 1976, p. 101, nos. 122-25, col. pl. 15.

Literature comparison:
Pottery figures of polo players fall into two categories: dynamic riders seated on horses shown in full "flying gallop", with no support or stand, and elegant riders seated stiffly on horses standing on a rectangular base. The present figures belong to the first category, as do the four closely related figures of female polo players in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, dated ca. 650-700, object numbers 48-31/1, 2, 3, and 4. See, also, the figure in the Tenri Museum in Japan, illustrated by Hasebe and Sato, Sekai toji zenshu, vol. 11, Tokyo, 1976, pl. 183.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s Paris, 18 October 2018, lot 118
Price: EUR 16,250 or approx. EUR 19,000 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A painted pottery figure of a polo player, Sui dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related pose, pigments, and size (38 cm)



隋唐時期彩繪馬球仕女俑
中國,581-907年。仕女著緊身服、騎馬,面目刻畫精緻,手中木質鞠杖已朽失,但策馬打球的身姿栩栩如生。

來源:美國伊利諾斯州私人舊藏。
品相:一些修復、填充和潤色。有缺失、裂縫、燒製裂紋和結殼、顏料殘留物。整體自然磨損和風化。

重量:2,988 克 (不含底座),4,788 克 (含底座)
尺寸:長 36.8 厘米

現代底座 (2)

中國最早的馬球歷史可追溯到七世紀至八世紀,一些文學中還描述了打馬球的皇帝和皇室成員的故事。見章懷太子李賢(654-84) 之墓,見J. Fontein、Wu Tung in Han和Tang Murals,波士頓,1976年,頁101,編號122-25,彩圖15。

文獻比較:
彩繪馬球人俑可見於兩種形式:一種是充滿活力的騎手坐在馬背上,展現出全力"飛奔"的型態,沒有支撐物或支架;另一種則是優雅的騎手僵硬地坐在馬背上,人俑立於長方形底座上。現拍品屬於第一種形式。四件非常相近的馬球仕女俑,收藏於Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art,年代為650-700,收藏編號48-31/1,2,3和4。另一件收藏於日本天理參考館,見Hasebe和Sato,《Sekai toji zenshu》,卷11,東京,1976年,頁183。

拍賣結果比較:
形制:非常相近
拍賣:巴黎蘇富比,2018年10月18日,lot 118
價格:EUR 16,250(相當於今日EUR 19,000
描述:隋代彩繪馬球人俑
專家評論:比較非常相近的姿勢、顏料,以及尺寸 (38厘米)。

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