A VERY FINE CHINESE UNGLAZED POTTERY CAPARISONED... Lot 121

A VERY FINE CHINESE UNGLAZED POTTERY CAPARISONED STANDING HORSE LATE NORTHERN WEI / NORTHERN QI, CIRCA 550 AD with splayed saddle cloth and material folded over, with tassels suspended from his neck, wearing bells on his chest and twelve packs on his hind, all with finely painted original pigment in red, terracotta colour and black, the eyes and bridle particularly well detailed, standing foursquare on a rectangular base, with wood stand. 25.5cm high x 22.8cm long Provenance : From an English private collection, Highgate, London. Purchased from Roger Keverne between 1991-2002. A larger similar pair were included by Berwald Oriental Art, New York in their Spring 2008 exhibition, catalogue No 6,, pp 14/15; another described as Northern Wei and dated to the early 6th century with slightly less elaborate design is illustrated by the Chinese Porcelain Company in their exhibition of Chinese Art from the Wei to Tang Dynasties, 2000, No 1, pp 8/9 where the author notes a similar example has been excavated from a tomb in Luoyang dated 520 and 528 respectively. It would appear the more elaborately decorated examples are right at the end of the Northern Wei or the beginning of the Northern Qi dynasty.