Decorated horse; China, Wei Dynasty, AD 386-535. Polychrome... Lot 16

Decorated horse; China, Wei Dynasty, AD 386-535. Polychrome terracotta. The central area of the headdress has been restored. Thermoluminescence certificate enclosed. Measurements: 43 x 30 x 15 cm. Figure made in round figure standing on its four legs placed on a small base. The modelling of the horse shows a realistic and detailed anatomy, which can be seen in the face and the riding clothes with which it is dressed. Its stylised carriage and posture stand out, giving great expressiveness to the piece due to the opening of the front legs that denote movement and therefore the performance of an action. This type of piece used to form part of the grave goods of the Wei dynasty, as the horse was a symbol of rank and of belonging to the upper echelons of the social hierarchy. The piece still retains traces of the original polychromy applied as an engobe on the clay piece rather than a glaze. The polychromy is especially visible on the riding clothes and some of the horse's harness. The Wei Dynasty dominated northern China in the period of the Southern and Northern Dynasties (420-589), the first of the northern dynasties. This period followed the fall of the Jin Dynasty, and was a time when southern and northern China had different governments. Although the north had been in the hands of the Wei Dynasty since 386, the starting date of this historical period is conventionally placed at 420, when the refugee Jin Dynasty came to an end and was replaced by the first of the southern dynasties, the Liu-Song Dynasty. The ceramics of the Southern and Northern Dynasties are a continuation of the ceramics of the Three Kingdoms and Six Dynasties, when there was a significant development in the art of ceramics based on the tradition of the Han period. Thus, mainly funerary figurines decorated with engobes continued to be produced, but the techniques were significantly improved, as were the pastes, engobes, etc.