A PAIR OF SANCAI GLAZED STANDING COURT LADIES, TANG DYNASTY

8th century AD
China

Each slim figure stands on a square base wearing long robes that reach to the ground leaving the elaborate curling toed fashionable shoes exposed. The hands are clasped together at stomach height and draped in a cloth - above which, one of the figures supports a bound up offering; their shoulders are each draped in a shawl. The unglazed heads are left with remnants of the original cold pigment decoration, the hair styles bound up into an elaborate top knot - one of the many sophisticated hair styles in this cosmopolitan society.

Height: 40 cm