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Scientific Analysis Report: A thermoluminescence analysis report issued by Oxford Authentication on 24 August 2026, based on sample number C126m6, sets the firing date of the three samples taken between 900 and 1500 years ago, consistent with the dating above. A copy of the report accompanies this lot.
China, late 7th century to early 8th century. Finely modeled, depicted standing firmly atop a rockwork pedestal, with his hands clasped before his chest holding a tablet and concealed within the long sleeves of his loose, flowing robe, worn over a long skirt that partially covers the upward-pointing shoes.
The fleshy face with heavy-lidded eyes, a broad nose, and full bow-shaped lips framed by a delicately painted mustache, flanked by large ears, the head surmounted by a tall official’s cap embellished with floral motifs. The figure is coated in a luminous sancai glaze in amber, green, and straw tones, which pools and mingles as it flows down the body, save for the face and tall cap which are left unglazed and skillfully painted.
Provenance: Collection of Louis Depagne, Nice, France, thence by descent. Collection d’un Grand Amateur Fran?ais, acquired from the above. Louis Depagne (1926-2006) was a French antiquarian, collector, and connoisseur of Asian art, active in Nice from the 1950s. Having begun his career as an antiques dealer at the Marché aux Puces, he later established Curiosités in Nice, specializing in Chinese and Japanese works of art, including ceramics, bronzes, sculpture, and textiles. Depagne developed his passion for Chinese art through scholarly reading and the formation of his own collection, which, according to the Indian writer and art historian Baldoon Dhingra in 1958, he assembled “with an almost instinctive feeling for the delicacy, charm, and sense of peace that Orientalia always brought him”. His friend and fellow collector Marcel Gerbe likewise recalled him as a knowledgeable sinologist and discerning connoisseur, distinguished by the exacting standards he consistently applied when selecting objects for acquisition. As Depagne himself would often tell Gerbe, “The pebbles on the beach are thousands of years old, but that alone does not make them valuable.”
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age. Expected ancient wear and firing irregularities, signs of prolonged burial, small old repairs, chips, and minor glaze losses with associated touchups. Remarkably, unlike many Tang-dynasty figures of this monumental scale, which are typically extensively restored, this figure has survived with comparatively limited intervention. Small holes from sample-taking, now filled.
Weight: 11.1 kg
Dimensions: Height 101.7 cm
Earthenware tomb figures such as the present example made up a sizable segment of the ceramics manufactured during the Tang period. Literally hundreds of figures, including soldiers, servants, musicians, tomb guardians, horses, and camels were placed in tombs to provide for the needs of the dead. Made in all sizes and in a wide range of qualities, these figures reflect the status of the deceased. By the beginning of the eighth century, the sculptural quality of Chinese tomb figures had reached its zenith. They were modeled with unprecedented naturalism and animation. As never before, the potter imparted life and movement to his creations, capturing the essence of a gesture or a mood with superlative fidelity.
The magnificence of light-bodied tomb figures with three-color (sancai) glazes has made them one of the hallmarks of the Tang dynasty. While the horses, dogs, camels, and other animals, which were invariably modeled with the affection the Chinese have always lavished on their representations of animals, were completely covered in polychrome glazes, the faces and hands of supernatural figures and human attendants were usually left unglazed, often to be painted after firing – exactly as we see it here.
Many of the human figures found in these ceramics, as exemplified by the present lot, undoubtedly depict foreigners of Western origin. They are dressed, however, in the typical Tang-dynasty Chinese court attire, consisting of a long, wide-sleeved tunic worn over a long gown, along with a traditional headgear. This admixture of alien personages with such a characteristically native art form as burial furniture demonstrates the cosmopolitan attitude of China during the Tang period.
Literature comparison:
Compare a related sancai figure of a civil official, dated Tang dynasty, 120 cm high, excavated in 1971 from the tomb of Prince Zhanghuai in Qian County, Shaanxi Province, and illustrated in The Quest for Eternity. Chinese Ceramic Sculptures from the People's Republic of China, 1987, p. 58 and 131, no. 62.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 13 September 2019, lot 1072
Price: USD 30,000 or approx. EUR 34,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A large sancai-glazed pottery figure of an official, Tang dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject, modeling, and glaze. Note the smaller size (95.3 cm).
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams San Francisco, 24 June 2013, lot 1172
Price: USD 37,500 or approx. EUR 46,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An impressive sancai glazed pottery funerary figure of a dignitary, Tang dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject, modeling, and glaze. Note the larger size (120.5 cm).
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