A COMPLETE SET OF ANTHROPOMORPHIC ZODIAC FIGURES, PAINTED POTTERY, TANG DYNASTY

Expert’s note:
It is rare to find a complete set of twelve zodiac animals. The present set is also unusual for the crispness of its modeling, especially the inspired sculpturing of the heads, with each face showing a unique expression and character. Special care was given to the ox, tiger, and monkey sculptures who are the only figures robed in red, black, and yellow, possibly suggesting a personal connection between the original owners and these years.

China, 618-907. Each modeled as a human figure standing ramrod straight with hands clasped beneath the long sleeves of court robes belted below the waist, falling in crisp folds and fanning out in a circle over the tips of their shoes. The robes in shades of red, yellow, cream, and brown. The heads finely modeled comprising the complete group of twelve animals of the Zodiac: the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, ram, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. (12)


Provenance:
From a private collection in Sussex, United Kingdom, assembled during the 1990s, and thence by descent.

Condition:
Excellent condition overall, commensurate with age. Wear, weathering and erosion, the original pigments partially faded. Minor chips, cracks, and losses. Soil encrustations. Possibly with small old repairs here and there, as expected from ancient potteries aged more than a millennia.

Scientific Analysis Report:
A thermoluminescence analysis report issued by Oxford Authentication on 19 April 2021, based on sample number C121c56, sets the firing date of two samples taken between 900 and 1500 years ago. A copy of the report, signed by Doreen Stoneham for Oxford Authentication, accompanies this lot.

Weight: 14.9 kg
Dimensions: Height 31 cm (the tallest)


Zodiac figures first appeared during the Han dynasty
as artisans began casting representations of the animals in bronze as offerings. Form the Northern Wei dynasty (386-534 AD) onwards, the zodiacal animals began to be anthropomorphized, such as in the present lot, and often functioned as grave goods. The heads of each of these figures were molded separately from the bodies and were attached before firing. The hollow interior can be seen from the base, which was necessary to access when attaching the heads to the bodies. Remnants of the sculptors fingerprints are preserved in the interior of many of these figures.


Literature comparison:

Compare a closely related complete set of twelve zodiac animals, each 30.5 cm high, dated to the 8th century, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 2000.662.7a-l. A related complete set of twelve pottery Zodiac figures, Tang dynasty, unearthed in the suburbs of Xi'an, Shaanxi Province in 1955 and currently in the Museum of Chinese History, Beijing, was included in the exhibition China. 5000 Years: Innovation and Transformation in the Arts, The Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1998, cat. no. 108. A related complete set of twelve zodiac animals, excavated in 1950 at Ba Qiao, Shaanxi Province, and currently in the Shaanxi Beiling Museum, was included in the exhibition Gilded Dragons, The British Museum, London, 1999, no. 63. Compare a related set of five zodiac animals, 25.4 cm high, dated to the Tang dynasty, in the Minneapolis Institute of Art, accession numbers 50.46.197-50.46.201.


Auction result comparison:

Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 16 January 2019, lot 69
Price: USD 35,000 or approx.
EUR 38,000
converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A set of six Chinese large painted red pottery zodiac figures, Tang dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of painting. Note the size (54.2 cm) and that this lot is an incomplete set of only six figures, as opposed to the present lot which is a complete set of twelve.




唐代彩繪十二生肖陶俑


中國, 618-907年。生肖俑造型作人身獸首, 人身均作文臣形象, 再配以不同生肖的頭像, 構成一個個獨立的單體生肖塑像。上穿圓領寬袖長袍, 袍長至足面。長袍有紅色、黃色、米色和棕色。 頭部造型生動，完整的十二生肖：鼠、牛、虎、兔、龍、蛇、馬、羊、猴、雞、狗、豬。(12)


專家注釋：
完整的十二生肖套裝十分罕見。本套裝的不同尋常還在於其造型的清晰，尤其是頭部的生動，每張臉都展現出獨特的表情和性格。牛、虎和猴雕塑尤其特別，它們是唯一身著紅、黑、黃色長袍的人物，可能暗示了原主人與這些生肖之間的個人聯繫。


來源：
來自英國蘇塞克斯的私人收藏，於二十世紀九十年代收藏，並傳承至今。

品相：
整體狀態極佳，磨損、風化和侵蝕，原有的顏料部分褪色。輕微缺口、裂紋和損失。土壤結殼。小修。

科學檢測報告：
牛津認證公司於 2021 年 4 月 19 日出具的一份熱釋光分析報告，基於編號為 C121c56 的樣本，確定了兩個樣本的日期為 900 至 1500 年前。該拍品隨附一份由(Doreen Stoneham 簽署的牛津認證報告副本。

重量：14.9 公斤
尺寸：高 31 厘米 (最高)


十二生肖最早出現在漢代
，當時工匠們用青銅鑄造十二生肖作為祭品。從北魏時期（公元386-534年）開始，生肖開始被擬人化，如本拍品中的生肖，並經常被作為隨葬品。俑采用头、身分制, 然后粘接成一体, 從底座可以看到中空的內部。 許多雕像的內部都保留了雕刻家的指紋殘留。


文獻比較：


比較一件非常相近的一組八世紀十二生肖像，高30.5 釐米，收藏於大都會藝術博物館，館藏編號2000.662.7a-l。一件相近的一組唐代十二生肖像，1955年出土於陝西省西安墓葬，現藏於中國國家博物館，展覽於《China. 5000 Years: Innovation and Transformation in the Arts》，紐約古根漢美術館，1998年，圖錄編號108。一組相近的十二生肖像，1950年出土於陝西省灞橋區，現藏於陝西碑林博物館，展覽於《Gilded Dragons》，倫敦大英博物館，1999年，編號63。比較一組相近的唐代五件十二生肖像，高25.4 釐米，收藏於明尼亞波利斯藝術博物館，館藏編號50.46.197-50.46.201。


拍賣結果比較：

形制：非常相近
拍賣：紐約佳士得，2019年1月16日，lot 69
價格：USD 35,000（相當於今日
EUR 38,000
）
描述：唐代一組六件紅陶十二生肖像
專家評論：比較非常相近的模板和上色風格。請注意尺寸 (54.2 釐米) ，以及此組只有六件十二生肖陶像。