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Expert’s note
The subject of the present lot is as exquisite as it is rare: an elegantly coiffed woman seated upon a richly glazed horse, absorbed in playing a transverse flute. Although horses and riders belong to the most celebrated repertory of Tang dynasty funerary sculpture, female equestrians occur considerably less frequently than male riders, officials, warriors, and grooms, while representations of women performing music on horseback are exceptional. The present figure unites two defining expressions of Tang aristocratic culture—horsemanship and music—in a single, remarkably refined image. The motif of the mounted musician had already appeared in Northern Wei funerary art, as demonstrated by a related painted earthenware figure in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 1997.442.5.2. The few surviving examples from the Tang dynasty include a blue and sancai glazed figure of a horse and flute-playing rider, dated to the 8th century, 44.3 cm high, on loan from the Meiyintang Foundation in the Museum Rietberg, inventory number MYT 1194.
China, 618-907. Finely potted as a female musician seated astride a horse standing foursquare on a rectangular base, the horse naturalistically rendered with alert expression, pricked ears, powerful neck, and slightly opened mouth, covered in a rich amber glaze, the saddlecloth picked out in green. The equestrienne sits upright, wearing long flowing robes glazed in green, amber, and cream tones, holding a flute before her chest in both hands. Her neck and head are left unglazed and instead finely painted, the hair arranged in a high elaborate coiffure.
Provenance: From a private collection in Paris, France, and thence by descent to the Spanish side of the family. The previous owners were specialists in archeology and acquired the present lot in France.
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age. Expected wear, firing irregularities, signs of prolonged burial, encrustations, chips to base, minor craquelure and flaking to glaze, losses to pigments, old repairs and touchups, all as expected from authentic Tang dynasty excavations.
Spanish Export License: Permiso de Exportación definitiva, file no. 2026/006336, dated 29 June 2026, has been granted by the Dirección General de Patrimonio Cultural y Bellas Artes, Ministerio de Cultura, Gobierno de Espa?a. A copy accompanies this lot.
Weight: 3.5 kg
Dimensions: Height 50.5 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.
Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related sancai glazed and painted pottery figure of a horse and female rider, dated to the Tang dynasty, late 7th-first half of the 8th century, 44.5 cm high, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 1991.253.10.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 14 September 2018, lot 1274
Price: USD 50,000 or approx. EUR 58,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A sancai-glazed pottery figure of an equestrienne, Tang dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, sancai glaze, and painted decoration. Note the size (40.7 cm).
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 19 March 2008, lot 523
Price: USD 49,000 or approx. EUR 66,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A sancai-glazed pottery figure of a horse and rider, Tang dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, sancai glaze, and painted decoration. Note the size (38.1 cm).
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