Tang Dynasty (618-907) Fired in antiquity!!! - The result of the thermoluminescence test, is consistent with the dating of the item, Tang dynasty (ca. 1250 years old). Sampling in 3 different points- Provenance: Very important and old private German collection, Mr. W. R., Wiesbaden collected before 1995.It is very rare to find any of these figures with gold pigment!! Tang figure with similar pigment (gilded) are illustrated in Chana, Dawn of the Golden Age, 200-750 A.D., The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, horse and female rider, p. 290 pl. 182, also civil and military officials, p. 292, pl. 184. All figures painted and gilded!!! See photos # 41 and 42.Outstanding pottery "mingqi" representing a painted and gilded pottery model of an Equestrienne Holding a Falcon with Lynx,Red earthenware coated with white slip and remains of green, dark green, blue, gold, black and red pigment.Tang Dynasty (618-907)Earthenware with pigmentsHeight 41,5 cm.,Excavated from the tomb in Qianxian, Shaanxi province.The horse shown striding, the head well modelled with flared nostrils, open mouth as if the horse is neighing and expressive eyes below the picked years, with hogged mane and head turned to the left. The rider seated firmly in her saddle with feet stretched forward in the stirrups. The rider dressed in boots and a 'barbarian coat' with its lapels turned outward, holding a bird in her left arm, her face very detailed, much of the original pigment remaining.Imitating practices from the West, Tang hunters of small mammals and fowl trained lynxes and cheetahs to sit along side them on the horse. Often the animals had their own seat. Lynxes are often shown with upright ears with tufts of black fur. The animal seen here has the upright ears of the lynx.Tomb excavations document a broad level of freedom for women of the leisure classes during the Tang period, able to enjoy the equestrian pursuits of polo and hunting. This young woman must have taken part in a hunt, a falcon perched on her raised arm and the lynx seated on the back of the horse. See the two women with similar hair styles and dress in a group of five painted pottery hunters unearthed in 1991 from the early eighth century tomb of Yu Yin and Princess Jinxiang, exhibited in The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People' Republic of China (Washington, National Gallery of Art, 1999),