The most magnificent horses, immortalised in
Chinese literature and the visual arts, were the
Ferghana horses introduced into China from the
west (from modern Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and
Kyrgyztan) during the Han dynasty (206 BC-AD
220). Obtaining these extraordinary stallions was
still a priority for the Tang dynasty Emperor
Taizong (r. AD 626-49), despite the fact that by
the middle of the 7th century the Tang
government owned more than 700,000 -built up
through tribute gifts and the careful
management of official herds. Emperor Taizong
was so devoted to his own horses that he
ordered bas reliefs of his six favourite battle
steeds to be carved and placed at his tomb. Even
Emperor Xuanzong (r. AD 847-59) was said to
have had two consuming passions - beautiful
women and horses, and a dramatic painting of
one of his favourite horses, Night-Shining White,
by the renowned horse painter Han Gan (AD
720-60) can now be seen now in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Such horses were used both for military
campaigns and for leisure activities - for the
Tang dynasty elite they became symbols of
power and prosperity. Furthermore, during the
early years of the Tang dynasty, the increasing
cross-cultural fertilization between sedentary
Chinese and Central Asian semi-nomadic people
encouraged the fashion of horse riding. Its
tremendous popularity was very soon restrained
by an imperial edict in 667, decreeing that only
aristocrats (of both sexes) should be allowed to
ride horses: owing a horse then became a
privilege dispensed only to members of the
higher class.
It is then not surprising that during the Tang
Dynasty this mania would permeate and greatly
influence the mingqi (burial) artistic repertoire. In
terms of technical and artistic achievement, as
sculptural representations of the fashions of the
time, the highest quality painted pottery mingqi
tended to be more successful than those glazed.
In fact, while sancai objects required greater
expenditure of material and labour, the
application of the rich glaze meant instead, that
the replication of fine details in drapery and
physiognomy was generally overseen, while for
the unglazed painted pottery the artisans felt
best able to explore the details and overall
decoration that fascinated the Tang aristocracy.
Our horse perfectly exemplifies the early artistic
production of the Central Plains (Henan and
Shaanxi provinces) during the 7th- early 8th
centuries AD, when more detailed sculptures of
caparisoned horses were placed in the tombs of
the wealthy as companions for the afterlife. This
impressive sculpture with a carefully groomed
mane and tail -its legs, torso, and head
individually moulded and then attached
together- still retains much of the original paint
intact. The elongated prancing legs would have
been strengthened in the core with an iron
armature, covered up by clay and subsequently
painted; the saddle –painted in orange- was
added to the moulded figure. Horses with
saddles appear frequently already in tombs
dated to the Northern Wei period, where they
would have symbolized the presence of the
deceased. Furthermore, the quite unique -
seldom found in mingqi- rendering of his pelt
with a maculated effect would suggest a dappled
bay steed specific to Central Asia, sometimes
portrayed in silk panel screens dating to the
Tang dynasty, such as the one found in tomb
188 in Astana, Turfan, Xinjiang Autonomous
Region.
Reference:
For the silk portrait from Astana see , J. Y. Watts
et al, China, Dawn of the Golden Age, 200-750
AD, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art,
2004: No.177, p. 284.
Medley, Margaret. Tang Pottery and Porcelain.
London: Faber and Faber Limited, 1981.
Sullivan, Michael. The Arts of China. Los Angeles:
University of Califonia Press, 1999.
Watson, William. Tang and Liao Ceramics. New
York: Rizzoli, 1984.
Wood, Nigel. Chinese Glazes: Their Origins,
Chemistry, and Recreation. London: A and C
Black, 1999.
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