
International Art | Sculpture
Satyr with wineskin cast 19th century
after UNKNOWN ROMAN
International Art | Sculpture
Satyr with wineskin cast 19th century
after UNKNOWN ROMAN
International Art | Painting
The prodigal son c.1780-1840
UNKNOWN
International Art | Sculpture
Spinario cast late 19th century
after School of PASITELES
Asian Art | Print
Courtesans (reprint) unknown
after EISEN
Asian Art | Sculpture
Flying horse of Kansu cast 1973
after EASTERN HAN ARTIST
International Art | Sculpture
Bust of Niccolo da Uzzano unknown
after DONATELLO
International Art | Sculpture
Borghese warrior 19th century
after AGASIUS THE EPHESIAN
Pacific Art | Fibre
Jipai (mask) 2011
AFEX, Ben
International Art | Glass
Decanter c.1875-1900
AESTHETIC STYLE
International Art | Glass
Vase c.1880-1900
AESTHETIC STYLE
International Art | Glass
Vase c.1880-1900
AESTHETIC STYLE
Contemporary Australian Art | Installation
Blackboards with pendulums 1992
KENNEDY, Peter
International Art | Drawing
Design
ADAM, Sicander
International Art | Metalwork
Tea urn c.1770-1800
ADAM STYLE
International Art | Ceramic
Long necked vase c.1900-50
ACOMO PUEBLO
Pacific Art | Photograph
'Te Waiherehere', Koroniti, Wanganui River, 29 May 1986 1986, printed 1997
ABERHART, Laurence
Pacific Art | Photograph
Nature morte (silence), Savage Club, Wanganui, 20 February 1986 1986, printed 1999
ABERHART, Laurence
Pacific Art | Photograph
Angel over Whangape Harbour, Northland, 6 May 1982 1982, printed 1991
ABERHART, Laurence
Australian Art | Drawing
A memory of Gumeracha (study of flies) 1908
HEYSEN, Hans
Pacific Art | Print
The boxer 2009
ABEL, Patrik
By Tarun Nagesh
Artlines | 1-2012 | March 2012
A ‘golden age’ in Chinese history, the Tang dynasty (618–906CE) was born out of a newly re-unified China. It followed the fall of the Sui dynasty (581–618) amid costly repairs to the Great Wall and an expensive military campaign against Korea. Emperor Gaozu (566–635), with the help of his son, Taizong of Tang (599–649), took power in 618 and expanded territories throughout much of central Asia, establishing strong trade centres that influenced art and culture and created a demand for export. A ceramics industry flourished, with lead-glazed pottery, in particular, beginning to be produced in great numbers in the northern kilns around Shaanxi, Hebei and Henan. This was driven largely by the vast requirements of elaborate tomb furnishings, intended for use by the dead in the afterlife, and which included human and animal figurines as well as vessels.1 This exemplary horse represents the remarkable industry of figurative funerary ceramics during this prosperous period and is an image synonymous with Tang dynasty culture.
Lavish assemblages of funerary objects were sought after by nobility and high-ranking officials to honour their dead, and would be paraded through the metropolitan centres and displayed near the tombs prior to burial before being placed in special niches within the tombs.2 A symbol of nobility and class, horses were used with drawn carriages prior to the Tang dynasty. However, Tang nobility began to adopt the European mode of riding astride horses; in accordance with this, the figurines were depicted as luxuriously equipped with saddles over animal furs and became the most popular animal with which to honour the dead.3 This stocky, regal horse has a cream-coloured glaze except for the saddle and eyes, which are painted with pigment. A yellow ochre glaze covers the hooves and ears, and a streak runs from the saddle along the top of the mane to the muzzle. At the rear, a small hole is left where a tail, made of real horsehair, would have been attached.4
Lead glazes began appearing in application to pale white or straw-yellow coloured pottery in the sixth century; by the end of the seventh century, objects were readily decorated with a splash of coloured lead glaze. A range of polychrome glazes were being employed by the eighth century, including early examples of cobalt blue (the basis for later blue-and-white wares) and the popular Tang style known as sancai (three-colour) glaze — commonly, but not restricted to, straw-white, amber and green. These, together with the gradual superseding of earthenware by stoneware (which was later succeeded by porcelain), were major technological advances in ceramic production of the era.
This Tang horse was gifted to the Gallery as part of a major donation of over 80 Chinese artefacts, which include examples of Han dynasty pottery; Tang dynasty court figures; Liao, Yuan and Ming dynasty celadon; Ming and Qing dynasty porcelain; and a significant Qing textile collection encompassing rare badges of rank, bound feet shoes, purses and accessories. This generous gift features several imperial pieces and has made an outstanding contribution to the Gallery’s historical Asian collection.
Endnotes