Ca. 618-907 AD.A beautiful pottery figure of a prancing horse. The spirited horse is shown with the right foreleg raised, mane swept to one side, mouth open, and ears laid back. The tail is depicted as docked and bound in traditional fashion. Traces of red colour are visible on the hooves. The saddle is covered with a red cloth draped over the saddle. Below the saddle, there is a decorated cloth. The horse's trappings are completed by an elaborate harness with dangling tassels on the horse's croup. War horses were the pride of the Tang, a dynasty of prosperity, military expansion, and artistic achievement. In 667 AD, Tang dynasty statues declared the ownership of horses as an aristocratic privilege, forbidding artisans and tradesmen the right to own horses. This piece has been precisely dated by means of a Thermo Luminescence analysis carried out by Ralf Kotalla, an independent German Laboratory. The samples collected date the piece to the period reflected in its style, whilst also showing no modern trace elements. The TL certificate with its full report will accompany this lot. For more information on the importance of horses in China, see Cooke, B. (ed.) (2000). Imperial China- The Art of the Horse in Chinese History: Exhibition Catalogue. Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington. For more general information on the Tang Dynasty, see Benn, C. (2002). Daily Life in Traditional China: The Tang Dynasty. Westport: Greenwood Press and Watt, J. C. Y., et al. (2004). China: Dawn of a Golden Age, 200-750 A.D. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art.Size: L:700mm / W:590mm ; 17.64kgProvenance: East Anglian private collection; formerly acquired in the early 1990s in Hong Kong.