PROPERTY FROM THE HAROLD AND RUTH NEWMAN COLLECTION A PAIR OF PAINTED GREY POTTERY HORSESTang dynasty Free-standing and exceptionally well-modelled, the large muscular beasts striding forward in mirror image, each with a foreleg raised in an animated dynamic gesture, the heads held high and pushing forward, one with open mouth, unusually revealing the teeth, each with flared nostrils, muscular face, large eyes with hooded brows and pricked ears, the finely docked manes hogged on one horse with parted locks above the eyes, the other with similarly parted locks but with the manebed to one side of the neck, the finely detailed saddles depicted covered in tied cloths and thick padded blankets, one tail finely braided and tied back, each with white pigments accented with darker stippling and orange-red pigments. Each 28 1/2in (72.4cm) high; 26in (66cm) long 唐 彩繪灰陶馬一對 Provenance: Sotheby's New York, 23 March 2004, lot 595 The Harold and Ruth Newman Collection, Connecticut, 2004-2022 出處： 紐約蘇富比，2004 年 3 月 23 日，拍品第 595 號 康州 Harold and Ruth Newman 藏，2004-2022 The horses are realistically modelled in a forward moving posture, with back legs in a striding posture but spread somewhat apart with the front leg in a prancing movement. The ears of both horses are realistically pricked adding animation to the heads. One horse opens it's mouth in a neighing action. This large pair of horses display a remarkable degree of observation on the sculptor's part which is vividly captured in the finest examples of pottery figures manufactured during the Tang dynasty. For a very similar pair of painted grey pottery horses see R. Jacobsen, Celestial Horses & Long Sleeve Dancers: The David W. Dewey Collection of Ancient Chinese Tomb Sculpture , Chicago, 2013, pp. 220-221, where the author notes that a particular breed of foreign horse was favored by the Xuanzhong Emperor in equine dancing performances on the occasion of his birthday (r. 667-731 A.D.). See also two very similar horses, striding rather than prancing with one leg raised, illustrated by Nicholas Grindley in his exhibition catalogue , March 2001, nos. 3-4. A related horse of smaller size in the Shaanxi Historical Museum, is illustrated in Zhongguo taoci quanji , vol. 5, Shanghai, 2000, pl. 199 and another is illustrated by V. Choi, Horses for Eternity-Terracotta Equestrian Tomb Sculpture of Dynastic China , Hong Kong, 2007, no.67, pp. 186-7.