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If you'd like to try an alternative to classic porcelain, then Tonda is the perfect complement to your home.

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Tang Dynasty Painted Pottery Bowing Horse ‘618 AD to 906 AD’

$7,200.00

Category:

Out of stock

Description

A painted pottery figure of a bowing horse Guaranteed Tang Dynasty; this bowing horse was certainly a burial tribute to an important dignitary or military general. Painted terracotta. Modeled with bowing forelegs, the back legs bent to bear its weight, the lowered head turned slightly to the right with mouth Agape and nostrils flared, the long, thick mane combed over to the left side of the neck, richly caparisoned, the flared saddle blanket painted with floral decoration, the tail docked and tied,

Guaranteed authentic and period Tang Dynasty. No TL test. Condition: Good with extensive restorations on legs, left lower butt, tail and base as expected of burial qingxi pottery. The inside exhibits ancient encrusted dirt. On wooden fitted base.

Height with base: 10 inches Width: 16 inches Depth: 7.25 inches

The importance of horses to ancient Chinese culture cannot be overstated, and is perhaps nowhere better expressed than in these magnificent Tang Dynasty sculptures. The most sought-after steeds were known as “blood-sweating horses”; raised in the western kingdom of Ferghana, they were sent in great numbers as tribute to the emperor. Horses also were a sign of wealth: strict sumptuary laws limited the use of the horses to people of a certain rank and even those serving in the military, such as the hooded soldier saluting from astride this horse, had to provide their own mount. In fact, the ancient unification of the Chinese Empire was due in large part to the horse as their rapid mobility allowed for quick communication between distant provinces. Likewise, the military role of horses aided in the conquest and submission of distant lands. The need to import stronger, faster steeds from Central Asia (as opposed to the native Mongol pony) led to the creation of the Silk Road. It is this atmosphere that China saw one of its ‘golden’ eras flourish.

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