A SANCAI GLAZED POTTERY GROOM


Tang dynastyThe figure molded with youthful Han features and braided hair on his unglazed head, dressed in a long tunic with the lapel turned back in the Central Asian fashion, his arms raised as if to grip the reins of a beast of burden as he stands on a low plinth, the surfaces colored with amber, green and straw colored glazes. 17 5/8in (44.8cm) high
|Provenance The Chinese Porcelain Company, New York, 4 December 2003 The sharply featured faces of Central Asians and Iranians appear on many Tang tomb sculptures depicting the grooms, riders and drivers tending the exotic horses and camels that plied the Silk Road. However this groom seems to be Chinese, to judge from his more delicate facial features. A sancai glazed groom with similar Han features, braided hair and Central Asian style tunic was excavated in 1971 from the tomb of Prince Zhanghuai, re-interred in 706 in Qian County, Shaanxi: see The Quest for Eternity: Chinese Ceramic Sculptures from the People's Republic of China (Los Angeles County Art Museum, Chronicle Books, 1987), p. 132, no. 65 and illustrated in color on p. 62.