A RARE PAINTED GREY POTTERY FIGURE OF A KNEELING BACTRIAN CAMEL
late 6th century/early Tang
China
The camel is heavily laden with a large pack tied
on either side; a long cloth is folded over the
projecting pack boards, and the pack is flanked
by twists of cloth and suspended flasks. Shown in
the process of either lowering itself to the ground
or rising - the camel’s neck and head are
turned slightly to the left, with the mouth partially
open to expose its teeth. There are traces of red,
black, white and ochre pigment, and deeply scored
patches of hair on the head, neck, upper legs and
humps.
Length: 11” / 27.9 cm
Cf. an Eastern Wei dynasty camel, in similar naturalistic
pose is illustrated in ‘Zhongguo Gudaishi
Cankao Tulu: Sanguo Liang Ji Nanbeichao Shegi’
(A Pictorial Reference of Chinese Ancient History;
Three Kingdoms, Two Jin, Southern and Northern
Dynasties), Shanghai, 1990, p. 184; another is
illustrated in ‘Sekai toji zenshu’
vol. 8, Tokyo, 1955, p. 270, fig. 311. A Sui example
is represented in ‘The Tsui Museum of Art,
Chinese Ceramics I: Neolithic to Liao’,
Hong Kong, 1993, no. 75 - and another, in the
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, is illustrated in
the ‘Handbook of the Collection’,
New York, 1993, p. 280.
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