A painted pottery figure of a court lady


Tang DynastyGracefully modelled standing with both hands held in front of the body, wearing loose colourful robes finely detailed with floral patterns and reaching the floor revealing the tips of their pointed shoes, the round face with delicate features highlighted by ruby-red and rosy-pink pigments beneath the hair dressed in a high half-moon-shaped topknot. 35cm (13 6/8in) high
|The Property of a Gentleman 士紳藏品唐 陶胎彩繪仕女俑Provenance: Castle of Antiquities Co. Ltd., Hong Kong, 16 June 2000Gisèle Croës Arts D'Extreme Orient, Brussels, 2005Jean-Yves Ollivier Collection來源：香港古董商古城藝術品有限公司，2000年6月16日布魯塞爾古董商吉賽爾藝廊，2005年歐宗易先生珍藏Facial ornamentation played an important part in the life of the highest-ranking female members of Tang society. Decorative shapes were often applied to the forehead, as displayed on the present figure, whether by means of paint, gold leaf or glued paper. The fashion for forehead decoration appears to have originated during the Six Dynasties period, when one day, a plum flower fell on and stained the forehead of Princess Shou Yang, daughter of Emperor Wudi of the Liu Song dynasty (r.420-422). See E.Schafer, The Early History of Lead Pigments and Cosmetics in China, in Toung Pao, 1956, vol.44, pp.413-438.Compare with similarly red-painted pottery figures of court ladies, Tang dynasty, illustrated by J. Baker, Seeking Immortality: Chinese Tomb Sculpture from the Schloss Collection, Santa Ana, 1996, p.34, fig.17.A similar painted pottery figure of a court lady, Tang dynasty, was sold at Christie's New York, 17 September 2008, lot 408.The result of ASA Authentication et Datation d'Objects d'Art et d'Archaeologie par Methodes Scientifiques, Paris, thermoluminescence test no.203 048, dated 10 March 2000, is consistent with the dating of this lot.面敷赭色，蛾眉間點花紅，鳳眉，櫻唇，頭頂高髻，點以圓斑以作髮飾，身著赭衫，外罩青翠外褂，肩披紅巾，其上繪紅綠花色，腳著翹頭履。 參考一件唐代紅彩侍女俑，見J.Baker著，《Seeking Immortality: Chinese Tomb Sculpture from the Schloss Collection（找尋不朽：史羅斯收藏中國墓葬造像）》，聖安娜，圖17，頁34。另可參考佳士得紐約2008年9月17日售出一件類似侍女俑，拍品408。巴黎ASA Authentication et Datation d'Objects d'Art et d'Archaeologie par Methodes Scientifiques熱釋光檢測結果（2000年3月10日，編號203 048）顯示年代與本拍品年代一致。